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HISTORY OF THE
HOLY SHRINE OF SRI VENKATESA

TIRUPATI

VOLUME

CONTENTS

CHAPTEB PAGE

I. General Geographical Features ... 1
II. Founder of Tirupati— A Tondaman. 30

III. Tirupati and the early Alvars ... 52

IV. Tirupati in Silappadhikaram ... 96
V. Tirupati in Tirumalisai Alvar's

Works ... 101

VI. Tirupati and Nammalvar ... 134

VII. Tirupati and the other Alvars ... 156
VIII. Bhakti, the dominent Feature

of the Age ... 185

IX. History of Tondamaudalam ...200
X. Inscriptions of the Chola

Dynasty in Tirupati ... 235

XL The age of the Vaishnava

JLcharyas and Tirupati ... 256
XII. Organisation of Worship at

Tirupati by Ramanuja ... 288

XIII. The last Cholas and their

successors ... 312

XIV. The Yadavarayas and Tirupati ... 342
XV. To^daman Chakravarti— The

Human Founder of Tirupati. 375

XVI. Tirupati under Vijayanagar ... 393

XVII. 9 Tirupati under the Saluvas ... 453

PRINTED AT
ANANDA PRESS, MADRAS.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Page.
I. The procession image of

Sri Venkatesa Frontispiece

II. Tirupati hiU and surroundings ... 8

III. &r! Venkatesa-SesAawAana

(Serpent vehicle) ... 68

IV. The fefl Venkatesa shrine ... 114
V. The sanctum of Sri Venkatesa „. 197

VI. Tiruchanur-Temple and tank ... 229

VII. Padikaval Gopuram, Tirumalai... 239

VIII. TownofTirupati ... 293

IX. Papanasa-T*riA(m ... 294

X. FarSfaswMMt-Tirumalai ... 302

XL ^M%an0a-Tlrtham ... 303

XII. Sv&mi Pushkarini ... 306

XIII. Vishnu's discus at the fresh water

tank at Tirupati town ... 324

XIV. Kapila Tirtham ... 336
XV. Shrine of G-ovindaraja, Tirupati. 345

XVI. Anandanilaya VimSna ... 349

XVII. The emblem of Vijayanagar ... 425

THE PROCESSION IMAGE OF SRI VENKATESA

PREFACE

cluster of hills which goes by the name
Venkatachalam hills, and the small group in
it called the Tirupati hills, have long been the most
famous pilgrim spots in South India and the
latter has enjoyed an eminence equalled but by
a few even \ip to the present time. It is in the
fitness of things that the management, recently
constituted for carrying on the administration of
the affairs of the temple on the hill and its large
properties and income, should have thought of
getting a history of the shrine written for the
information of the public. The first Committee
had this question before them for consideration.
£ri Dewan Bahadur T. A. Ramalingam Chettiar's
suggestion that I be invited to write the history
was readily accepted by the Committee. The
Committee's invitation was quite acceptable to
me, as it has long been my wish to bring to a
conclusion the enquiry, in regard to the history
of the temple, which I started so long ago as
1904 in writing a life-history of Ramanuja, which
publication came in for important public conside-
ration* in connection with the GSvindaraja shrine
in Chidambaram. The time was rather propi-
tious also, as the large number of inscriptions

Collected by the Devastanam Department of
epigraphy during the last decade had at last
been printed and was likely to become available
to the public. The history of the shrine in the
following pages is based upon these inscriptional
records for the latter period, as they furnish
an amount of information for that period, not
inferior to that of any other important shrine
for the corresponding period. This period has
reference to that following the life activity of the
Vaishnava teacher, Ramanuja, whose connection
with the temple and his actual services to it had
long been a fruitful subject of controversy.

For the period relating to Ramanuja himself
and his active work of reorganising the temple
worship and ritual and putting these on a footing
of permanence, we are driven to such information
as the material for his life-history would provide.
That material is hardly ample enough to give us
any detailed information in regard to the details
of his organisation. But luckily for us, we have
a Sanskrit work composed just a few genera-
tions after Ramanuja which bears specifically
upon this work. The Committee was so good
as to sanction the republication in good form
pf a critical edition of this work, of which
there was an unsatisfactory Telugu edition, and
even that had for some time been out of print.
The then Commissioner, Sri A. Ranganatha
Mudaliar, deserves all thanks for having enabled

me to bring out the edition, in Devanagari
characters, of the work, £r1 Venkatftchala Itihfisa-
mftla, which gives a detailed account of what
took place under Ramanuja, and how that
arrangement was allowed to continue since then.

For the period anterior to Ramanuja, the
sources of information are not as ample as for
the period following. For about three centuries
preceding Ramanuja's activity in Tirupati, we
have some inscriptions, not many, though some
of them do throw much light upon the history of
the shrine and the locality surrounding it. For
the period before the 8th century, we have to
depend entirely upon other sources of informa-
tion, of which the dominent sources are litera-
ture, Tamil and Sanskrit, bearing upon the
temple. The classical literature of the Tamils,
the so-called Sangam works, have just a few
references to Vengadam, which formed the
northern boundary of the Tamil land according
to them, and just a few which would support
the existence of the temple at the time, and even
of the establishment of the annual festivals for
worship in the temple. Proceeding therefrom
we have the work of the twelve Vaishnava
Alvars, whose age and active work occupied the
period from the most brilliant period of the
Sangam age on to the last years of the 8th
century. These works necessarily have a great
deal to say about the temple, as i* was one of

. • •

their holy of holies and came in for elaborate
description from their point of view.

While these last sources do have but oblique
references in regard to the origin of the temple,
they do not supply us with a satisfactorily
detailed account, We have to go to the Paur&nic
sources for this, and these are all brought
together in a SanRkrit work, Vgnkatftchala
Mnhntmyam, of which there are numbers of
editions, several of them not quite satisfactory.
A recent edition brought out for the Devastanam
and not published, I have been enabled to look
through along with the other editions. This
work is mainly a collection of what is said in
celebration of this holy place in the various
Puranfts, of which eleven have extensive passages
connected with the temple. In their own way,
they give us a full exposition of how the
self-existing shrine had come to notice, and
what services it received from various people
from time to time. This account, partaking as
it does of the character of all the Pauranic
accounts, still seems to let us into the secret of
ite origin, and the time when it acually came to
be recognised as a human institution.

I have made use of all these sources of
information with the care that a work like this
deserves, and have adopted deliberately the
method of letting the sources speak as far as

they could, as in a controversial matter like this,
it is much the best thing to set out the facts
clearly and place them upon an indubitable
footing, quite distinct from such inferences,
etc., that one may have to deduce from these
facts. I have done so, and the facts are there
quite distinctly stated followed by such in-
ferences I have been enabled to draw therefrom.
I need hardly add that the responsibility for
these inferences and such views as are expressed
in the book is entirely my own. The account
presented therefore is more or less the bare facts
of the history of the holy shrine interspersed with
such necessary explanation and clear statement
of what the sources by themselves do not make
quite clear. It is for readers to judge how well
or ill it has been done, and to what extent it
carries conviction in regard to the whole history
of the shrine.

I have been able to carry the history of the
shrine from its probable date of foundation about
the beginning of the Christian era down to
practically the end of the 18th century. The
account given for the period beginning with the
Carnatic Wars right on is not quite as full as it
should be owing to the absence of sources of
information directly bearing on the period. The
records of the British Government may contain
information of an important character bearing
upon the period ; but the records are not as

yet made open to the public. What is more,
the Government have declined to give me
access to the records for the purpose. In the
circumstances, I could do no more than to
leave it as it is.

I must in the first instance acknowledge my
obligation to my friend, Sri T. A. Ram al ing-am
Chettiar and the other Members of the first
Devastanam Committee, as also the succeeding
Devastanam Committee with its Chairman SrT
Venkata Ranga Rayaningaru. The two Com-
missioners, Messrs. Sitarama Reddiyar and
Ranganatha Mudaliar were no less helpful in
regard to the matter, as also the staff of the
Devastanam Office on the occasion of my visit to
Tirupati in the course of the work. I acknow-
ledge with particular pleasure the assistance
rendered in the course of my writing the book
to Sahitya Siromani Pandit S. Rajagopalacharya
and Dr. P. Srinivasacharya, M.A., Ph.D., in the
earlier stages of the work. The index to the book
is the work of £rl T. V. Mahalingam, M. A., till
recently University Research Student, who offered
to do the work with alacrity. My grateful
thanks are due to all of them for the assistance.
The printing work has been entrusted to the
Ananda Press. I am very much obliged to its
Proprietor, Sri R. Madhava Rau, M. A., for much
accommodating assistance in the course of
printing the work, which, as will be seen, has been

excellently^ done. The illustrations are taken,
about one half from the Devastanam Archaeo-
logical photo negatives, and the other from
photographs taken by Messrs. G. K. Vale for
the Devastanam Committee.

I am really gratified that I have been able
to carry the work to completion without break
through the grace of Sri Venkatesa, to whom I
dedicate this in token of my devotion.

THE DASARA 1939,
Mylapore, Madras*

} S. RR1SHNASVAMI AIYANGAR.
.)

vii

A HISTORY OF THE HOLY SHRINE OF
SRI VENKATESA AT TIRUPATI

CHAPTER I

GENERAL GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES

Tirupati, or far rather the group of hills lying
in a confused coil called the Tirumalai hills,
forms a feature of the region of South India
between the 13th and 14th degrees of north
latitude. The Eastern Ghats which, from the
northern extremity of the Presidency, run close
to the coast, turn into the interior after passing
the river Krishna, and then break up into a
number of parallel ranges of hills of which, in
the region south of the Krishna and extending
southwards to the latitude of Madras, say roughly
13th degree of north latitude, three parallel
ranges are distinguishable. The range nearest
the coast runs more or less straight in one single
range. The second range is an irregular group
starting similarly from the Krishna well below
Kurnool, and runs down in a semicircle into
the Cuddapah District scattering about in a
cluster, one group of which is called Seshachalam
hills ; the main range however runs southwards
till it makes a further approach to the coast,
coming down as far as Ponneri a few miles north

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

of Madras. Another range more irregular and
nmch lower iu point of height, proceeds north-
wards from the foot of the Mysore plateau and
scatters itself through Anantapur and Kurnool
districts. The central group is what is called
Nallamalais in the Kurnool District, and, as it
proceeds southwards from there, it becomes more
definitely something like a single range, and
meets the Eastern range round about the group
of hills at Tirupati, Kajahasti, etc. These hills
therefore form a feature of the frontier half a
degree to the north of Madras, extending the
whole length from the Mysore plateau and
stretching eastwards to almost near the coast at
Ponneri, and thus constitute a prominent
feature of the northern extremity of the Tamil
land. Hence it is that, in defining the boimda-
ries of the Tamil country, they mark Vengadam,
a prominent feature of this cluster of hills, as
the northern boundary, the eastern and western
boundaries being formed by the sea, and the
southern boundary marked by the promontory of
the Western Ghats, ending in Cape Comorin.
The earliest Tamil grammar Tolkappiyam
defines the boundary of the provenance of Tamil
as such. Some of the Puranas dealing with the
holy shrine at Tirupati liken the range of hills,
th« Nallamalais and their continuation, to a
huge cobra lying about at ease, of which almost

J
-I

GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES

the end of the tail is marked by the great
Siva shrine of Srifiailam not far from the
Krishna river, beyond the 16th degree of north
latitude and a considerable way down the river
from Kurnool. Coming up on the back of this
huge snake one next strikes the Vishnu shrine
of Ahobalam * which is at the beginning of the
tnink of the snake. At the back of the hood
stands the hill of Tirupati, and almost at the
opening of the mouth again the great Siva
shrine of Kalahasti. This Pauranic description
is rather graphic and accurate, although the
features marked happen to be only the four
holy places of Kalahasti, Tirupati, Ahobalam
and Srisailam. We mentioned already the
cluster to the west being called Seshachalam
hills, probably the name is given from this
feature of the whole group lying about like a
snake, or rather a cobra lying at ease in the
sun. This curious feature probably had its
own share in creating the peculiar impression
upon people journeying from a distance, and
is probably responsible for the names given
which, at first sight, may seem fanciful.

THE ACTUAL NAME OF THE HILL. Tirupati which
is a Vaishnava sacerdotal name for the shrine
there, is generally known to Tamil literature
by the name Vengadam, which is one of the

HISTORY OF TIRUPAT1

alternative names in holy parlance as well.
Vengadam is generally referred to as a hill,
though often the reference is as much to the
territory surrounding it, and, when it happened
to be the capital, the territory dependent upon
it. In Tamil secular literature it figures as
the northern borderland of the Tamil speaking
country of the south. Tolkappiyam, the classical
grammar of the Tamils, popularly believed to
be one of the oldest pieces of Tamil literature
extant, defines the boundary of Tamil provenance
as between the hill Vengadam and the southern
Cornorin (Kumari) as marking the northern
and southern boundaries. In those days the
seas marked the extent and the prevalence of
Tamil on the other two sides. Therefore
northern Vengadam (Vada Vengadam) is the
style in which it is most referred to. To
make the position clear, it is possible to
quote references in which it is stated quite
unmistakably that when one passed Vengadam
from the south, he passed the bounds of
Tamil on the one side and gets into a region
where the language actually is different. That
is usually referred to as ' Vengadam passing
which the language changes.' Numbers of
instances could be quoted for that from Tamil
classical literature. So we might take it that
Vengadam for Tirupati, is the name of the hill,

GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES

so familiarly known to the Tamils, more or less
as a landmark which characterised the northern
border of the Tamil land passing across which
one got into a region where the Tamil language
was not spoken.

VENGADAM, BOUNDARY MARKING OFF TAMIL FROM
VADUKAR. The language that was spoken beyond
Tirupati was known to the Tamils as Vaduku,
and the chieftains who ruled even over Tirupati
and the regions to the west of it, were generally
known as princes of the Vadukas (Vadukar
Perumakan) in classical Tamil. This Perumakan
evolves into Peruman in later Tamil which,
in the sense of the great one, prince or king
according to circumstances, is used as a title
of dignity. Accordingly the language which
they spoke is known as Vaduku which, in
modern parlance, means Telugu. But, in the
early centuries of the Christian era, the term
Vaduku for the language, and Vadukar for
the people, applied to all the people along the
northern borders of the Tamil land extending
from the east coast far into the peninsula,
perhaps reaching even to the west Coast. At
least there is one chieftain in the interior, the
ruler of Erumai, who is referred to as Vadukar
Perumakan, and the indication is that he held
rule in a part of the country which is northern

BlSTORY OF T1RUPAT1

Mysore now, and the territory adjoining it.
Certain points in this long boundary, in fact
the points on the highway of communication
between the north and the south, seem marked
off as Vadukar-munai, the frontier posts of
the Vadukar land, that is, the outposts of the
Tamil country, where one came into contact
with the Vadukar, the contact in respect of
Vadukar-munai being generally contact hostile.
This term Vadukar seems merely to represent
the linguistically analogous Badagas of the
Nilgiris of to-day, and it is possible that that
happened to be the common name, at least
so far as the Tamils were concerned, for Telugu
and Kaiiarese together, before perhaps the two
languages differentiated. We have to go to
the llth or the 12th century for a distinctive
reference describing the prevalent language in
these regions as Vaduku, and locating both the
Telugu and the Kanarese behind this Vaduku
land. That distinction obtained in the days of
Nacchinarkiniyar, the great commentator. So
then, the whole northern borderland of the
Tamils was Vaduku, and hence the road leading
there to the north was described as Vadukavali,
which may mean only one great trunk road
leading into the Vaduka-land, although from
some of the expressions used in the inscriptions
of a later date, it may be possible to infer

€

GEOGRAPHICAL FEATVRES

more than one road, as had sometimes been
done. Hence the Tamil land was bounded
on the north, across almost the whole length of
the peninsula, by the land of the Vadukar. A
prominent landmark in this northern boundary
was undoubtedly Vengadam, and Vengadam,
according to references in classical Tamil litera-
ture, should have lain on the highway leading
north from the Tamil land, as it happens to
be even now.

TIRUPATI IN EARLY CLASSICAL TAMIL LITERATURE.

The body of literature generally known as
the Sangam literature consists of a number of
collections of poems which at one time must have
been more generally current in the Tamil land.
These seem, from their nature, poems composed
on occasions, exhibiting various modes of compo-
sition as a mere exhibition of poetic skill by
their respective authors. Some time later it
was apparently felt that these fugitive pieces
of composition were in danger of being lost, and,
as a practicable effort, some one was set to
collect the most excellent of such pieces to
provide typical illustrations of the various modes
of composition. Presumably therefore the
collections which have come down to us are
composed of pieces considered the most excellent
at the time that the collections happened to be

HISTORT OF TIRUPATI

made. There is one particular author who is
reputed in Tamil literature as one who wrote the
Bharata in Tamil, and therefore was generally
distinguished as Perundevanar who composed
the Tamil poem Bharatam. Perundevanar
being a common name in Tamil literature, this
distinction was considered necessary as, even in
this comparatively narrow field of literature,
there were a number of Perundevans. But this
Perundevan who made the Bharatam must be
distinguished from the Perundevan, the author of
the Bharatam in Venba verses, whose time we
know precisely. This Perundevan must have
been an earlier author. To the well-known eight
collections he composed the verses in invocation,
and these poems in invocation relate to all the
well-known deities of the Tamil land at the time,
and not confined to one or the other of these
exclusively. A late copper-plate charter datable
in the tenth century ascribes the "doing of the
Mahabharata in Tamil" to the Paiiidyan ruler
well-known in this class of literature as the
Pandyan "who won the victory at Talaiyalan-
ganam." In this famous battle the young
Pandya is said, in this literature itself, to have
won a victory against his two rival contempora-
ries, the Chola and the Chera, assisted by a
number of chieftains of the Tamil land, seven of
whom are mentioned by name. It is probably

GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES

therefore that, it was in his reign or immediately
after that, the collections of these poems were
made, and the poems in invocation to these col-
lections composed by Perundevanar, the author
of the poem, the Mahabharata. The collections
which have been made therefore must all relate
to a period anterior to this Pandyan, victor at
Talaiyalanganam. References in this literature
therefore must be regarded as having relation to
the period before the date of Perundevanar or
the Pandya, victor at, Talaiyalanganam.

THE CHARACTER OF THESE REFERENCES. These
references collected from various pieces in two
or three of these collections refer to Tirupati by
the name Vengadam, and generally to Tirupati
as being on the northern borderland of the
Tamils, as is made in the Tolkappiyam. In
the actual circumstances in which the references
do occur, Tirupati is indicated as in a region
passing across which one passes from the land
of the Tamils into a land where the language
spoken was different from Tamil. Among the
authors referring to Tirupati we can distinguish
two authors contemporary with the Pandyan of
of Talaiyalanganam, Kalladanar and Nakklrar.
Poem 83 of the Ahanamiru refers to the chief-
tain Pulli of the region surrounding Vengadam.
He is described in this poem as Ilaignar

HISTORY OF TIBUPATI

Perumakan; the latter word Perumakan is a
Tamil equivalent of prince which later became
Peruman, meaning king. The whole expression
therefore would mean the prince of Haignar,
and this latter term is generally used to indicate
hunters by profession. Another attribute which
he uses is the Tamil term kalla which would
mean uncultivated ; in other words, in a compa-
ratively savage state of civilisation. In another
poem 209 of the Ahananuru, this same author
describes the same Pulli and his VEngadam,
and mentions the peculiar feature that there was
a narrow passage across the hills, described as
a tunnel, through which one had to pass to
emerge from the territory of the chieftain Pulli
into the land to the northward of the region.
Nakkirar does not refer to Vengadam as such.
But he is undoubtedly referring to the territory
dominated by Vengadam, where he speaks of
Tiraiyaii and his capital Pavattiri, Reddipalem
in the Gudur Taluk of the Nellore District.
In another poem of the same collection,
namely, poem 253, Nakkirar speaks of Vadukar
Perumakan, Erumai. This Erumai comes under
reference in a number of other poems, and by
various authors, as the chieftain of the Vadukar ;
but, in this poem, Nakkirar indicates clearly
that the territory of this Vadukar chieftain lay
in the region of the river which he calls Ayiri,

GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES

and, passing that river, one passes from the
Tamil land into the land of the Vadukar. Ayiri
seems to be the Tamil equivalent of the well-
known Mysore river, Hagari, passing near Kadur
and through the Chitledrng District, falling into
the Timgabadra, a well-known frontier region
in later history between the Tamils and powers
to the north of them. Another poet by name
Kanakkayanar, probably the father of Nakkirar,
as he is often described as Nakkirar son of
Kanakkayanar, refers to the northern Vengadam
in Aham 27, and of the breed of elephants
infesting its forests in the course of a descrip-
tion of a Pandya and his famoiis port, the
pearl-producing Korkai. Other authors referring
to Vengadam are Tayam Kannan, otherwise
Tayangannan, who refers to Vengadam as
belonging to Tondaiyar, and refers to the country
of the Vadukar across the region. Similarly
another poet Kannan son of Kattur Kilar, refers
to Vengadam as belonging to Tiraiyan, and
gives a peculiar feature that the elephants there
were being fed with the tender shoots of the
bamboo. The last but the most important poet
of them all, and, perhaps even the oldest among
them, Mamulanar, has seven poems in this
collection in which he might be held to refer to
Vengadam directly or indirectly. In poem 61
he refers to VSnga^am as belonging to Pulli, the

HISTORY OF TIRUPATl

chieftain of the Kalvar, and another feature of
Vengadam which he notes, and which is note-
worthy, is that Vengadam was famous for its
festivals. In two other poems 115 and 281, he
does not refer to Tirupati. In the first he refers
to Erunxai of Kndanadu, the chief Erumai being
the ruler of the western country (Kudanadu).
The other piece refers to the Vadukar, and to a
hill where there was a tunnel for passing in and
out, and these features come under reference in
the course of a statement that the Mauryas
invaded the south, pressing the Vadukar forward
before them, passed this tunnel in the hill. In
poem 295 however he refers undoubtedly to
Tirupati as Pullikunrain, the hill of the chieftain
Pulli, and refers to the country across as the
region of the Vadukar entering which the
language changes. In other words passing into
the region of the Vadukar, the language changes
from Tamil into another language, obviously
Vaduku. In poem 311 he refers to the good
country of Pulli and the desert past it, and
describes the feature that the people were
accustomed to eating the rice prepared with
tamarind, on teak leaves. In poem 359 he refers
to Pulli liberal in gifts. In poem 393 Pulli comes
under reference again, and Vengadam, and
here Pulli is described as one the words of
whose speech are long, that is, the words are

.12

GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES

drawn out, as is the characteristic of some of
these languages. There are other references
by other authors which would confirm one or
other of these features, though they do not
specifically refer to Vengadam as such.

TIRUPATI, NOT REFERRED TO AS A HOLY SHRINE

AS IT IS. It will be noticed that although
a number of authors of eminence in this
collection actually refer to Vengadam, and
give some details of features which in those
days were regarded as characteristic of the
hill and the region of which it was a prominent
feature, there is no reference to the great
shrine which uow-a-days is almost synonymous
with the place name. Tirupati now-a-days
means first and foremost, perhaps even almost
exclusively, the shrine at Tirupati. The change
of word to Vengadam, a synonym, does not
make much of a difference. That prominence
of the shrine does not appear to be given
to Vengadam in the references quoted above.
There is however one reference in poem 61
of the Maniulanar which seems unmistakable
in regard to this. Speaking of Vengadam
in this poem, Mamulanar refers to it as
Vengadam .of great prosperity, prosperous be-
cause of its having festivals. This may be
regarded as an unmistakable reference at least

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

to the celebration of festivals there during the
year, and of the place being much resorted to
on that account, thereby contributing to its
prosperity. This may justify our presuming the
existence of the temple there, and the series of
festivals which had early been inaugurated
in connection with it. But it falls short however
of the actual mention of the temple as such.
The more so as it gives no indication even
inferentially of the character of the temple or of
its deity. During the period of the Sangam
literature therefore we may take it that the
temple may have existed, but it had not quite
attained to the importance or the prominence
that it attained to in the period following.

NOTEWORTHY FEATURES OF THE PLACE FROM
THIS CLASS OF LITERATURE. There are certain
points however in connection with the region
which are worth noting with a view to the
position of the territory in the age of the
Sangam literature. The first point to note
is that it is the borderland separating Tamil
from a northern language which goes by the
name Vaduku. The modern equivalent of this
Vaduku would be Telugu. The people who
are on the northern borderland of the Tamil
country, almost the whole way across the
peninsula are referred to as Vadukar, and

GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES

their rulers as Vadukar Perumakan, prince or
chief of the Vadukar. The region here referred
to would answer to the modern division
called Rayalu-Sima to distinguish it from the
Andhra country proper, so far as the eastern
half of it is concerned. In the earlier period,
however, it is not merely the eastern but
perhaps even the western half is equally distin-
guishable, the region of the Vadukar having
behind it the block of territory which, early in
South Indian History, went by the name
Karnataka (Tain. Karu-nadu for the land, and
Karunadam for the language), that is, in the
period following the age of the Sangam, and
judging from the information so far available to
us. The distinction is made by certain com-
mentators, at least by one commentator of the
Tolkappiyam. Expounding one of the Sutras of
the Tolkappiyam itself, the commentary notes
that the region we are concerned with was the
region of the Vadukar ; and behind it were
the territories where the languages current
were Telugu in the east and Kannada in the
west. The next point that comes out from the
references is that the people across the border
spoke a language different from Tamil. It was,
in the judgment of the Tamils at any rate, a
language as yet not much cultivated, and,
according to them again, the pronunciation of

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

words was drawling at least to the Tamil ear,
which, from the point of view of the Tamil,
would be true of the Telugu spoken in the
Andhra country as distinct from the more
southern region. The next point is that the
natural character of the region, which was a
forest country more or less, made the profession
of the inhabitants hunting and cattle rearing.
Elephants seem to have been abundant in the
forest region, and had been tamed and brought
into service. The next point is that the region
was under the government of a chieftain by
name Pulli ruling over a people who are
described as Kalvar, possibly with the variant
form Kalavar. Subsequently to him it seems
to have come under the authority of a chieftain
called Tiraiyan with a capital at Veiigadam,
and perhaps an alternative capital at Pavattiri,
a little further north. The next point again is
that the territory was included in the region of
the Tondaiyar ; in other words, it was regarded
as a part of what was called in brief Tondai-
mandalam, or popularly Tondamandalam in
Tamil. The last point of importance to note
from these references is that, at one time, the
Cholas extended their conquests northwards to
bring these Vadukar under their authority.
A defeat of the Vadukar in the north and of
the Paradavar, the fisher-folk, in the south

GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES

happened to be mentioned in connection with a
Chola ruler ; in another poem he is said to have
inflicted a defeat on the Vadukar at a place
called Pali. It becomes clear therefore that the
region dependent upon Vengadam was inhabited
by a people called Vadukar who were under
their own chieftains, and became subsequently
subjected to the authority of the Tiraiyan chief-
tains perhaps after the defeat inflicted upon
them by the Chola, and the Tiraiyan chieftain
referred to here is called Tiraiyan without a
qualifying attribute, who had his capital at
Pavattiri, and not Ilam Tiraiyan associated with
Kanchi as his capital, a famous character in the
Sangam literature itself perhaps of a subsequent
generation.

CELEBRATION OP FESTIVALS, A FEATURE OF
TIRUPATI IN EARLY TIMES EVEN. Before passing
from these texts, there is one particular passage
in the poems of Mamulanar which calls for a few
remarks. The passage actually occurs in poem
61 of the Ahananuru. * Freely rendered the
passage means that, " the chieftain of the Kalvar

LDtT&eBT

stiff IT pevr

Aham. 61.
17

BISTORT OF TIRUPATI

Who are in the habit of handing over elephant
tusks, bartering them for liquor prepared from
paddy, and who wore anklets characteristic
of warriors, was Pulli famed for the conquest
of the land of the Malavar, and for great gifts
to those who went to him. (Your lover) it is
rarely possible will reconcile himself to stay
away even if he got thereby Vengadam, the
capital of that Pulli which is prosperous because
of the festivals celebrated in it. " The actual
sense of the passage is that an imaginary lover
who had departed from his sweetheart and
travelled away in quest of wealth to distant
parts, has tarried a little longer than he promised,
and the consolation is offered to the heart-
broken damsel that he might have delayed,
but that he would not stay away under any
circumstances. To add emphasis to this state-
ment, it is set down that even if, in his desire
for the acquisition of wealth, he got possession
of such a prosperous city as Vengadam, he
would not stay behind. The point for notice
here is that the fame of Vengadam in the
estimation of Mamular was due, at least in part,
to the great festivals which were celebrated in
the place from time to time, meaning obviously
the annual festivals which are now a feature of
the great temple-city. The casual statement of
this feature has its own tale to tell. According

GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES

to almost all the Puranas which make references
to this shrine at Tirupati, it was a Ton<Jaman
niler who unearthed the shrine, built a temple
for the God thus discovered by digging up an
ant-hill, housed the God in a shrine and
instituted a certain number of festivals to that
God. The evidence of the Puranas therefore is
that Timpati became a human institution with
a shrine and all its appurtenances only from the
days of the Tondaman. The identification of
this Tondaman would give us the clue to the
actual period in which the temple came into
being as a human institution. As a matter of
fact, the Puranas state it that the shrine itself
was not a human creation, but is regarded as
the divine abode itself come on to the earth
by the will of the God abiding there, that is,
Visnu. We noted already that, in these poems
alone, we note a change of rulers of the
locality, the chieftain whose territory it was, is
Pulli, the chieftain of the Kalvar, a section of
the Va^ukar, and from him it becomes included
in the territory of the Tondaiyar. Three poets,
Tayam Kannan in Aham 213, Kattur Kllar
Makan Kantian in Aham 85, Nakklrar in Aham
340 speak of the ruler as Tiraiyan instead of
Pulli. If these poets were later than Mamular
we could take it that the territory dominated by
Vengaijam passed from the Kalvar chieftain

BISTORT OF TIEUPAT1

Pulli of the Vadukar people to the Tiraiyan
chieftain. This Tiraiyan is referred to as
having for his capital Pavattiri, identified with
the village Reddipalem in the Gudur Taluk.
The extent of the territory is further indicated
by Mamular himself who refers in poem
11 included in the Kurum-togai to the territory
as on the borderland of the Vadukar (Vadu-
kar-munai), and the district is referred to as
Verkkadu Nadu where language changes. This
Verkkadii is no other than the latter part of
the name Pala-Verkkadu, now aiiglisised into
Pulicat. The territory therefore forming part
of the modern Chingleput, North Arcot and
Nellore Districts, constituted the hilly country
dominated by Vengadam and contained other
cities like Pavattiri and Verkkadu ; it was in the
territory of the people Vadukar ruled first by
the Kalvar-chieftain Pulli, and then passing
from him under the authority of the Tiraiyan
chieftain, who at one time had his capital at
Pavattiri. The question now would arise as to
who this Tiraiyan is and whether he is the same
as Ilam Tiraiyan of Kanchi, or different from
him. Literary evidence is not quite decisive.
The Ahananuru contains a number of poems
relating to a Tiraiyan, and the fact that the
more famous person associated with Kanchi
and the hero of the Tamil Classic Perumban-

GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES

arrupadai is always referred to as Ilam Tiraiyan
would support the view that the Tiraiyan was
an older chieftain ; and because of his existence
the more famous chieftain coming after him
has been called Ilam Tiraiyan, so that the two
personages may have to be regarded as distinct
from one another. That they were distinct
seems to be the view of the venerable scholar
MM. Dr. Swaminatha Aiyar. The fact that
Kanchi is referred to as Tondaman Kanchi
in an old quotation, and that, in another
similar passage, the chieftain addressed is called
Tiraiyan held to be Ilam Tiraiyan, would
support this latter view. It is rather strange,
however, that in a poem composed to celebrate
Ilani Tiraiyan in particular and his capital
Kanchi, such as the Perumban-arrupadai is,
there is no reference to his northern territory
or to any one of the cities which seem to be
special features of that territory. This omission
would perhaps be held to go against the identifi-
cation. However, for our present purpose we
may take it that the various literary references
are all of them to one and only one Tiraiyan,
Ilam Tiraiyan of Kanchi. That the organisa-
tion of festivals in connection with temples
we see in his time is in evidence in lines 410
and 411 of the Perumban-arrupadai, which,
in substance, states, that Kanchi attained to

BflSTORY OF TIRUPATJ

greater fame than the other old cities com-
parable with it, because of various festivals
celebrated there for the spiritual benefit of many
peoples, rendered by the commentator, people of
various communities in religion. In the days
of Tondaman Ilam Tiraiyaii therefore festivals
associated with temples had become an ordinary
feature in towns like Kanchi. When the
Puranas state, as they do, that it was a Tonda-
man who inaugurated festivals in Tirupati,
one could very well take it that probably the
Tondaman of Tirupati fame is no other than the
Tondaman associated with Kanchi. Tirumalisai
Alvar has a similar reference in verse 41 of
his Nan-Mukhan Tiruvandadi where he has a
specific reference to the festival of Onam called
Ona Vilavu. This festival of Onam (Sans.
Sravana} was the earliest festival inaugurated
in Tirupati by no less a person than Brahma
himself and is as yet the principal festival, the
Brahmotsava in Tirupati. The advent of the
Tondaman to power therefore, we may take it,
marks the beginning of temple festivals, and
we could well believe the Puranas when they
state it that it is a Tondaman chieftain, generally
called Tondaman Chakravarti in Vai^ava
parlance, that instituted these festivals in Tiru-
pati in his time.

GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES

TONDAMAN ILAM TIBAIYAN. Tondaman Ilam
Tiraiyan is a great celebrity in Tamil literature,
and is celebrated in the poem Perumban-
arrupadai, forming one of the collection called
" the Ten poems " (Pattuppattu). The author
of this poem is described as Kadiyalur Rudran
Kannan, which would mean Kannan, the son
of Rudran of Kadiyalur. From what is known
of him, he seems to have been a Brahman, but
the place from which he came has not so
far been satisfactorily located. Though Ilam
Tiraiyan is described as a ruler of great
influence and importance, he is still not regard-
ed as a crowned monarch, and is placed in a
rank inferior to that of the three crowned
kings of the south, Choja, Pandya and Chera.
Such rulers are called Kurunilamannar, which
literally translated would mean kings or rulers
who ruled over land of a smaller extent or of
inferior character. In other words it would
simply mean kings or rulers of a smaller
degree. The Tolkappiyam, the aiithoritative
work on matters like this, classes them as of
royal descent, but not of monarchical standing.
As described in the poem of Rudran Kannan,
he was the ancient ruler of Kanchi ruling over
what, in Tamil literature, is generally described
as Toijdamandalam, which included the vast
region between the Telugu frontier, the 14th

HISTORY OF TIRUPAT1

degree of north latitude on the eastern side,
extending southwards to the river Palar, some-
times extending as far south as the northern
Vellar. We may take it roughly that the
northern Pennar and the northern Vellar con-
stituted its boundaries north and south. It
extended westwards from the coast to take into
it all the territory down to the foot of the
hills bordering the plateait of Mysore, and from
there going across through the middle of the
present-day district of Salem. He is regarded
as the son of a Chola ruler, generally des-
cribed as Killi Valavan, which is more or less
a generic name for the Chola, but is probably
identifiable with Nedu-Mudi- Killi whose name
figures in the Silappadikaram and Manime-
khalai. The Perumban-arrupadai describes him
as descended of the royal family of Ayodhya,
in fact specifically mentioning Tirumal, gene-
rally taken to be Rama ; but it carefully distin-
guishes him at the same time as coming of a
younger branch of the family, because the
Cholas claim to belong to the family of Iksvaku,
and, among their warrior ancestors, figure
names like Sibi, etc. The actual passage
under reference is " descended from one, the
brother who came after him, who has the colour
of the sea, who carries on his chest the goddess
of prosperity, and who measured out the great

GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES

earth. * " This would mean that the prince was
descended of a younger brother of Vishnu, and
therefore equated with the family of the Cholas
who made a similar claim. He bore the name*
Tiraiyan (belonging to the sea), because he was
brought over by the sea and lashed ashore on
the Chola coast, to be taken and brought up
by the Chola ruler as his son. The story in
connection with this is that the Chola ruler
in one of his solitary meanderings along the
banks of the backwaters of the sea in Kaverip-
pumpattinam saw an extraordinarily beautiful
damsel, and fell in love with her at sight. The
damsel responded in her turn, and they carried
on a love affair which extended to his visiting
her in her underground residence as the
commentators call it. This was because she
was a Naga princess, and the Nagas usually
live in the underworld. We shall see that it
perhaps means no more than her parents
were living in a place access to which could
be obtained only by passing through a cavern
,or a tunnel across the hills. When she became
enceinte as a result of this liaison, she expressed

Perumban-arruppadai II. 29-31.
25

HISTORY OF TIRUPAT1

her concern in regard to the child to be born.
The Chola king advised her to put the baby
carefully in a box and send it afloat on the
"sea with a twig of the creeper of the Toijdai
(coccinia indica) tied round his ankle. If the
baby should reach him safe, he would bring
him up as a prince and make him king as
becoming a prince. Some time after, the baby
was born, she did as she was directed, and
the baby meeting with an accident on the sea
somehow reached the shore, and was brought
to the Chola monarch. The king brought him
up as his own child and appointed him to the
viceroyalty of Kanchi when the time came.
This story figures of course in a Buddhist
setting in the Manimekhalai. We shall come
to that detail a little later. He was ruling
over the whole of Tondama^dalam with
his capital at Kanchi. The poem Perumban-
arruppadai describes him in the conventional
style which demands the description of the
foiir classes of land of which one's territory
must be composed, the seashore, the forest
land, hilly country and agricultural land ; and
a fifth class has also to be marked in this, as
some of these lands had a tendency to become
desert land by frequent droughts and by the heat
of the sun. This is described as desert land
transformed into such either from forest land or

GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES

from agricultural land. A port ,is described
under the name Nlr-Peyartu, from which the
PUn or musician, expert in playing on the greater
musical instruments, such as the Tamil Yah an(i
hence called Perum-Pan as opposed to the
&iru-Pan, one who played on the smaller musical
instruments, passes through various classes of
land till he reached the town of Kanchi, the
headquarters of Ilam Tiraiyan. This particular
poet describes the Vishnu shrine in Kanchi
called Veh-Ka or Yadokta-kari, and that is the
only shrme, of all the multitudinous shrines that
one finds now in Kanchi, which finds mention
in this poem actually. Kanchi is described
in this poem as having attained to reputation
as already an ancient city where religious
festivals were celebrated for various classes of
people, to each according to its own conviction.
Since the author of this poem Rudran Kannan
has also celebrated the great Karikala in another
poem of the same collection called Paftinappalai,
describing particularly the city of Kaverippfim-
pattinam, the capital of the Cholas, and is said
to have received a very liberal reward from the
great Chola ruler Karikala, and since this poem
is of almost the same character and must have
been presented to the ruler whom it celebrates,
we have to take it that Ilam Tiraiyan came in
the game generation as the great Chola Karikala,

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

As a matter of fact we have reason to regard
him as coming in the second generation after
Karikala and may possibly be even in the third.
He was contemporary with the Adiyaman chief-
tain specifically known by the name Adikan, and
the poetess Avvai is said to have gone from him,
who was her patron, to the court of Ilam Tiraiyan
on an ambassadorial mission and persuaded the
monarch into peaceful ways. This would bring
him into contemporaneity with the Adiyaman of
Tagadur, another celebrity in the Sangam
literature. There are a number of fugitive pieces
of poetry in which he comes under reference
either as merely Tiraiyan, or as Tondaman,
neither of which could be described as a specific
name. But these have been held to refer to
Ilam Tiraiyan generally, particularly one stanza
which is quoted as composed by a Poygaiyar,
identifiable with Poygai Alvar as we shall see
later. He was himself an author, and a few
poems are ascribable to him in the collections
which have come down to us. He is supposed to
have been the founder of a town or city which
went by the name Tiraiyanur. There is a tank
which goes by the name Tiraiyaiieri to the south
of Kanchi ; and the locality where the Mission
Hospital and the adjacent buildings are now, is
pointed out as the place where the Tiraiyan's
palace and other buildings were found in ruins.

GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES

This locality may be considered - distinct from
the fortress of Kanchi, the part now-a-days
called Big Conjeevaram. It may be that this
suburb of Kanchi was called Tiraiyanur. We
shall see therefore that he is identifiable through
and through with Kanchi, and we do not come
upon any reference to Vengadam, or Pavattiri,
or even Verkkadu which we find referred to as
in the territory of Pulli first and the Tondaman
chieftains afterwards, as we have already stated
before. There is however the fact that the
whole of the territory under reference in these
poems is included in the Tondamandalam, or as
it is sometimes called Tondainadu.

CHAPTER II.

FOUNDER OF TIRUPATI-A TONDAMAN.
THE TONDAMAN AND THE EARLY ALVARS. From

what has been stated above, it is clear that
the Tondaman Ilam Tiraiyan was undoubtedly
ruling over the Tondamandalam so-called which
included the territory dependent upon Vengadam,
and therefore we may take it that he came
after the cheiftain Pulli referred to in the
iSangam literature, particularly in the poems of
MamSlar. This should be quite in keeping with
the trend of evidence in the Sangam literature
itself which would bring Ilam Tiraiyan into some
kind of a chronological connection with the
famous Pandyan, victor at Talaiyalanganam, and
the contemporary of Nakklrar. The names of
both this Pandyan and the poet Nakklrar are
intimately associated in tradition with the third
Sangam at Madura. Ilam Tiraiyan therefore
comes in at a time when we should expect
him from his relationship, again chronologi-
cally, with Karikala, and this is confirmed by
Nakklrar's poem Aham 340 where he associates
Tiraiyan with Pavattiri, the capital of that part
of Tondamandalam dependent upon Vengadam.
It thus becomes clear that Ilam Tiraiyan of

FOUNDER OF TIRUPATI

Kanchi was probably the Tiraiyan who is
referred to in the other poems of the $angam
collections by various authors, and he came in
the generation, not very remote from that of
the Pa^4yan victor at Talaiyalanganam. The
importance of this position consists in this, that
the Vishnu shrine at Vehka finds prominent
mention in the poem actually dedicated to him.
This is among the oldest shrines of Kanchi,
if not actually the oldest. It is mentioned
frequently along with Vengadam or Tirupati in
the poems of the earlier Alvars, and is regarded
as a shrine of the greatest importance. What is
more, the names of two 5.1vars get associated
with the place, namely, Poygai Slvar and
Tirumalisai Alvar. In the Vaishnava tradition
Poygai Alvar is said to have come and wor-
shipped at Kanchi, which is made just possible
by the fact that this Slvar is taken to refer to
Tiraiyan in one of the fugitive stanzas already
referred to. That particular stanza is quoted
as the work of Poygaiyar, not Poygai Alvar.
But a contemporary commentary on a work of
the eleventh or twelfth centiiry, Yapparungala-
karikai, quotes a few stanzas from Poygai Alvar
including the one already referred to. Two
of these stanzas are identifiable in the first
Tiruvandadi ascribed to Poygai Alvar in the
Prabandha collection of 4,000. It therefore

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

seems to leave no doubt that the Poygaiyar
referred to is the same as the Poygai Alvar.
Poygai Alvar's poems so far known to us are
all of them in the Venba metre, and he is
quoted along with a number of others who
excelled in composing poems in this metre.
Poygai Alvar is said to have come to Vehka at
Kanchi in the coiirse of his pilgrimage along
with his two companions Bhutattu Alvar and
Pey Alvar, in the course of which they are said
to have met Alvar Tirumalisai. This last
JLlvar is closely associated with Vehka, where
he is said to have resided habitually. In the
course of his long residence there, he came into
contact with a more or less secular disciple by
name Kanikannan through whom he came into
contact with the ruler of Kanchi, a Tiraiyan
himself, probably Ilam Tiraiyan. The story is
merely this. That Kanikannan was serving the
Slvar with devotion, and, in connection with
his service, he brought in a woman to assist him.
She earned, by faithful service, the favour of
the Alvar so much that she was granted by the
Grace of God perpetual youth and unfading
beauty, with which she was able soon to attract
the attention of the ruler of the locality to
become ultimately his sweetheart. In the
course of his long dalliance he was able to learn
from her how she came by the unfading youth

FOUNDER OF T1RUPATI

and beauty which proved to be such an attrac-
tion to him, and, having heard that it was due
to the favour of Kanikannan, who served alike
the Alvar and the God at Vehka, he sent for
Kanikannan to see him. Finding out from him
that he had not so much part in the matter as
the Alvar, the king commanded the presence of
the Alvar through Kanikannan. Kanikannan
protested that the Alvar was not likely to go to
see him even at the summons of the king. Wild
with rage at what he thought was impertinent
disobedience, he asked Kanikannan to take
himself away from Kanchi. Kanikannan in
due course went and reported the matter to his
master the Alvar, and, through him, wanted
to obtain the leave of the God at Vehka to go
away from Kanchi. Sooner than let him go,
the Alvar told him that he would himself follow,
and that, if he followed, the God himself was
not likely to stay in the place. Saying so, he
addressed God in a verse which has come down
to u B and begged him to follow him as he had
decided to leave the place and go along with
Kanikannan who had been exiled by royal
command. The God complied and hence the
name for the God Yadoktakari, the God who
did as he was directed (by his devotee). The
miracle in the story apart, the story itself is
evidence of some kind of the contemporaneity

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

which may be accepted as evidence of the
contemporary character of Tirumalisi Alvar
with Ilam Tiraiyan on the one side, and of his
contemporaneity with Poygai 5lvar and his
reference to Tiraiyan on the other. Ilam
Tiraiyan is therefore thus brought into connec-
tion with the first Alvars, namely, the three who
are known as snch and the fourth, Tirumalisai.
That marks the starting point of the history of
Tirupati. We shall have to examine the other
side of the tradition namely, what the Puranas
have to say about the Tondaman chieftains who
were responsible for the unearthing of the God
at Tirupati, the biiilding of a temple for him
and the organisation of worship and festivals in
connection with it.

THE PURANIC ORIGIN OP TIRUPATI. The Purana
tradition concerning the origin of the temple at
Tirupati is varied in character and voluminous.
As many as eleven different Puranas refer to
this subject, and give the account in circumstan-
tial detail which would strike the ordinary
reader as quite legendary in character. Having
regard to the character of the subject, and the
purpose of edification for which these are sever-
ally written, the legendary colour certainly
would dominate. It would be surprising if it
were otherwise. But, through all this legend,

FOUNDER OF TIRUPATI

one can still find certain facts standing clear,
which may be regarded as not belonging to the
realm of pure legend, and may perhaps be regard-
ed historical, though perhaps in a legendary
garb owing to association. The basal fact is
that God Vishnu had, by his choice, come to
live in Tirupati for which an occasion and a
stimulating cause alike seem called for. These
makers of legend provide both by taking the
story of the great Kishi Bhrigu's investigation
to find the Supreme in actual fact. Once
upon a time there was a discussion among the
Rishis, the most devoted to God and nearest in
service to him, as to which of the three manifesta-
tions of the Supreme, Brahma, Vishnu, Siva,
was really the Supreme. It must be remember-
ed that the Supreme is One, but manifests
himself in three forms, with one of the three
qualities, Sattva, Rajas and Tamas, dominating
in each case, and discharging functions
suitable in consequence, which must and
necessarily be discharged by the Supreme
by his very nature, the three essential functions
of creation, protection and destruction. Each
one of these functions is allotted to one of the
three: Brahma, having charge of all creation,
as a result of his dominating quality Rajas,
.energy or activity. Vishnu is given the function
of looking after all creation with the dominating

OF TIRUPATt

quality of Sattva, serene strength. Similarly
Rudra or Siva is allotted the function of destruc-
tion, his dominating quality being Tamas,
generally regarded as involving unthinking
irascibility. But at the back of all this divi-
sion, there certainly is the notion which makes
all the three but manifestations of the One, and,
as such, each one of the three being regarded as
the Supreme itself. In this notion of unity,
there is the possibility of two classes, those who
make Rudra the Supreme, and those who make
Vishnu the Supreme, Brahma often not coming
in for that claim to the same extent. It is this
unity in variety that formed the topic of discus-
sion of these wise ones; but they found good
reasons for regarding each one of these as the
Supreme, and undecided, they induced Bhrigu,
the most favoured among the Rishis and the
wisest among them, to make a pilgrimage to the
various abodes of the trinity and find out
by himself and directly by experiment. Natural-
ly he went first to the palace of Brahma in
Satyaloka — heaven. He found Brahma seated in
full durbar, and treated the guest who entered the
durbar after due salutation, somewhat familiarly,
and, without the due forms of welcome to
which the great sage was entitled, in the belief
that Bhrigu was after all Brahma's own son.
Bhrigu noted the dominence of self in the mind

FOUNDER OF TIRVPATI

of Brahma in thus regarding himself as the
progenitor of Bhrigu, notwithstanding the height
to which that progeny had risen by penance.
Having noted that, he passed on next to Kailasa,
the abode of Siva, and found the Lord God
disporting himself with Uma, his consort.
Resenting the freedom with which Bhrigu enter-
ed so familiarly, even into the secret conclave
of his own sportive dalliance, and, taking to
heart particularly that the Goddess felt very
delicate about the matter, he chased Bhrigu
out of the palace in anger. Bhrigu noted this
incident, and passed 011 the purpose of his
mission to the palace of Vaikuutha, where the
other member of the trinity, Vishnu-Narayana
was in his Yoga sleep, Lakshmi in his chest, the
other attendants, ladies and other, each in the
appointed place. Affecting disappointment that
the Grod, whose function was protection, should
have thus gone to sleep, consulting his own
comfort to the neglect of his duties, the Eishi went
up to the sleeping God and kicked him on the
chest to wake him up. Vishnu woke up from his
wakeful sleep, and apologised to the Rishi for
having shown himself so careless and wished to
know whether his foot suffered by coming in
contact with His own hardened chest So
naturally, Bhrigu reported what took place in
the three places to the assembled wise people,

HISTORY OF T1EUPAT1

and they all voted in favour of Vishnu as the
really Supreme One, the other two being more
or less slaves of their dominating qualities or
passions. But for the purpose of the Tirupati
story, this gave the occasion for Lakshmi to
pick a quarrel with her husband. Bhrigu's
kick on the chest of Vishnu fell on her. She
therefore was naturally wild that he should have
been allowed the freedom to do such a thing,
which did her the double insult, of the personal
insulting treatment to her, and of the disregard
of proprieties which the Bishi should have
showed to her Lord. Vishnu pleaded that the
sage was justifiably beside himself with anger at
Vishnu's apparent neglect of duties, and that it
would not do to deal with such people, as other-
wise than he did. In a fit i of rage Lakshmi
declined any more to remain on his chest, which
had ceased to give her the protection that it
should have, and that she thought she was
entitled to have. Lakshmi having gone away
from heaven, Vishnu could not go on for long
thus bereft of his consort, and wanted to
go away somewhere else to spend his time
pleasantly and get on alone. After making due
enquiries, he discovered that the hill Seshachalam
provided a spot which would be quite an ideal
place for his residence, pleasant to live in with
surroundings which supplied everything that he

FOUNDER OF TIRUPATI

would want for diverting himself in his serious
and light-hearted moods, and so he arranged
to come and live there. Knowing this the Rishis
went there to perform penance. The Gods and
Goddesses each one contributed what he or she
could to make the place pleasant, and thus fitted
out, God Vishnu came into residence there
abandoning Vaikuntha itself, lie had been there
aeons of time, and when we come to the parti-
cular Manvantara (Cycle of Manu) with which
we are concerned, he showed himself there in
the form of the primeval boar carrying the
Goddess of the Earth, redeemed from the deep.
This is indicated as the Varaha shrine on the
west of bank of the tank on the hill at Tirupati
called Vishnu Tirtha now, and after a con-
siderable length of time, and, for the purpose
of showing himself to a devotee who had long
been performing penance to him, he assumed
the form of Srinivasa, God bearing Lakshmi on
his chest, for his benefit, and thereafter lay
buried in the earth. Ultimately some cowherds
discovered the cows that they brought to graze
over the hills, going up an ant-hill and milking
of their own motion, and returning home dry.
The king of the locality whose cows they
happened to be, got informed of this phenomenon,
and went down to investigate. Digging up the
ant-hill, he discovered the God in a small shrine,

HISTORY OF T1RUPATI

well within the bowels of the earth. He got the
spot dug up, and, unearthing the simple shrine,
built a brick temple round it, and provided it
with all that would make a temple of it. That
is the famous £rmivasa shrine at Tirupati, and
with this temple we emerge from legend perhaps
into history.

THE TONDAMAN RAJA OF THE PURANAS. The

first question that would arise is, who is this
Toiidaman who laid the foundations of Vishnu
worship in Tirupati, in proper form, with the
temple and all its appurtenances. We shall
have to go a little further into the Puranic
story itself to gain the clue to an identification,
if an identification for him is at all possible.
A Tondaman who was a great devotee of Vishnu-
Vishnu at Tirupati and one in whom the God
was deeply interested, interested to the extent
of lending him his own characteristic weapons
of the disc and the conch to bring him success
in war, was given by him solemnly the highest
teaching that a Vaishnava could desire, directly.
We come upon references to a Tondaman who
had earned the favour of the Supreme deity
so far, as to have had these acts of grace in
his favour directly from God himself, in the
Prabandha literature. These therefore must
have been based upon well accredited tradition,

FOUNDER OF TIRUPATI

if they do not have a really historical basis.
The Parana stories however, continue that,
after the foundation of the temple in the manner
described above, and providing for worship
therein, the Grod, having been deprived of the
company of Lakshmi in the manner previously
described, and, having elected to come down
and live in Tirupati in consequence, was
accustomed to diverting himself by hunting and
such other engagements, habitual to him. In the
course of one of these hunting expeditions, he
happened to come upon a beautiful damsel in
one of the deep glades of the forests round
Tirupati. He discovered on enquiry, that the
beautiful damsel was no other than the princess,
the only daughter, and that, one not born to
him, but bestowed on him by divine favour
having been discovered by him in the forests.
The ruler is known to Puranic tradition as Akasa
Raja, otherwise described by the synonyms
of the word Akasa, whose queen bore a name
synonymous with the earth, as if to give away
the secret that the young lady concerned was
the daughter, even as the foster-daughter, of
the earth and sky, as if to take her away
altogether from the human category. We may
infer that this Raja belonged to the family of
the Tondaman chiefs, as he is said to have
had a younger brother who went by the name

HISTOEY OF TIRUPATI

Tondaman who assisted the elder brother in
sundry acts of administration and seems to have
been more or less directly entrusted with the
government of the region round about Tirupati
itself. The Puranas certainly display all their
resources in describing the marriage that was
brought about between this foster-daughter of
the " sky-king " and the God himself, accounting
for this strange alliance by the story that when
Sita threw herself into the fire to prove her
innocence, at the end of the Ram ay ana, she
prayed to be restored to her husband the great
God Vishnu himself, and the restoration was
brought about in the human fashion in the
marriage of PadmavatI to God Venkatesa at
Tirupati. This is what is generally described
as the marriage of Venkatesa or the marriage
of Srmivasa, a story much affected by the
professional story-tellers who perform Harikathas
for purposes of edification. We may pass over
these details as of no particular importance to
the unravelling of the history of the temple.
After the marriage was over and PadmavatI
returned to her original place, Akasa Raja ruled
for a short while and passed away, along with
his queen, leaving only a young son who was
born some time after the discovery of the baby
PadmavatI herself. Since Akasa Raja associated
with himself in his administration his younger

FOUNDER OF TIRUPATt

brother, Toijidaman, the uncle and the nephew
who was a young prince, went to war to decide
who was to succeed Akasa Raja as ruler. Both
of them being, each in his own way, a super-
man, the war proved undecisive ; but, in the
course of it, the uncle Tondaman felt his
physical resources ebbing away and prayed to
God for help. It was 011 that occasion that
Venkatesa is said to have parted, with his disc
and conch for the use of this ruler. The war
terminated however, without being clearly and
decisively in favour of either. So ultimately
they came to a compromise, and arranged to
rule the vast territories of Akasa Raja in two
parts, the parts nearer Tirupati being given
to the uncle, and the rest of it farther away
to the nephew. The prince built for himself
a capital lower down the river and ruled
his kingdom in great prosperity, while the
Tondaman ruled from the original capital
Narayanavaram, and did far more service to
the temple, and in fact laid the foundations of
the organisation and worship that obtain in
Tirupati even down to modern times. It is in
connection with this Tondaman in the course
of his service to the temple that we find mention
of a secret passage through the hill leading
from his capital up to the temple itself, to which
the king could go from his capital unseen of

OF TIRUPATt

others and quite unmolested. It was he that
organised from time to time the various annual
festivals, the first of which is the BrahmotSava
in the months of September — October of the year.
The principal festival known is the BrahmotSava,
and probably this festival is what is referred to
by Tirumalisai Alvar as the Ona-Vilavu (the
&ravana-f estival) .

WHETHER TONDAMAN RAJA WAS A HISTORICAL

CHARACTER. This Tondamaii ruler seems to be
more or less a historical person, although, as we
find in the tale recorded in the Puranas, there is
much that is said of him which may be
legendary, as certainly all that is said of his
more illustrious brother, the Akasa Raja, on the
face of it appears to be legendary, even including
his own name and that of the queen. It is just
possible, notwithstanding the legendary details
connected with him, to regard this Toncjaman
as a historical character from the fact of his
building the temple, and his organisation of
worship there. Notwithstanding this probability,
one might well ask the question whether we
have any evidence on which to base a definite
statement like that. The legends and the
Puranas themselves appear to give a clue to
this. One of the versions tries to define the
time when all this organisation took place at

OF flEUPAVl

Tirupati, and states specifically that it took
place in the Kaliyuga when the Yuga had
advanced sufficiently to have given occasion
to the institution of the era which now-a-days
goes by the name Vikramaditya, and say
definitely that the other era known to the
Hindus, that of the &aka had not yet come into
existence. This would mean a period of time
between 67 or 58 B. C. and 78 A. D. the period
of time to which we have arrived by our previous
line of enquiry, entirely independent of this
Puranic tradition. We found that the region
dependent upon Vengadam or Tirupati changing
hands from the Kalvar chieftain Pulli, and
passing into the possession of the Tondaman
chieftains before the time of the great Pandyan
victor at Talaiyalanganam, from references in
the Sangam literature. That very literature
gives us a Toijdaman, ruling from his northern
capital at Pavattiri, Reddipajem in the Gudur
Taluk, and held rule over the northern
Tondamandalam. We have referred rather
more elaborately to another Tondaman that
literature knows of, namely, the Tondaman Ilam
Tiraiyan. So we seem to have now three
Tondamans before us, the Tondaman or
Tondaman Chakravarti referred to in the
Puranas, the Tiraiyan of Pavattiri or northern

Tondaman Ilam Tiraiyan

SI8TORY OF TIRUPAfl

of Kanchi. Whether all these three were the
same, or how they are to be connected one
with the other is a problem which has to be
considered now.

IS TONDAMAN RAJA TONDAMAN ILAM TIRAIYAN?

We have already seen that some of the literary
references seem to leave the question open
whether the Tiraiyan of Pavattiri and llam
Tiraiyan are one and the same. It seems on
the whole the best course to take it that the
two Tiraiyans are different from each other ; at
least those that were contemporaries of llam
Tiraiyan and those who wrote of him either as
contemporaries or later seem to be under the
impression that he was different as they call him
distinctly llam Tiraiyan which would presume
an Elder Tiraiyan. If we should therefore
take the two to be different, we shall have two
rulers coming one after the other — perhaps with
an interval of time — it may be a generation or
perhaps even a little more. The title Tiraiyan
would indicate the family to which they
belonged. The name Tondarnan would really
mean " the chief man among the people
Tondaiyar ", at any rate, the person who was
ruler of the people called Tondaiyar, the
inhabitants of Tondainandalam, in fact, the
people who gave the name Tondaman^alam to

FOUNDER OF TIRUPATI

the locality. Even some of the Puranas seem
to refer to these Tondaman rulers as of the
Chola family. The Tondaman who built the
temple at Tirupati and organised worship
there is the son of a Chola ruler through a
Tondaman princess whom he used to meet
in a love adventure, through a secret passage
leading through considerable distance. The
association therefore between the Tondamans
and the Cholas is thus made clear even in the
Puranas. This connection is specifically stated
in the poem Perumban-arruppadai, mainly to
celebrate the liberality of the patron Tondaman
llam Tiraiyan. Whether this would really
warrant our identifying the Tondaman llam
Tiraiyan, with the Tondaman associated with
the Tirupati temple, is a question which requires
careful consideration.

TONDAMAN RAJA OF TIRUPATI DISTINCT FROM

TONDAMAN ILAM TIRAIYAN. We have already
noticed that the region round Tmipati passed
from the hands of the Kalvar chieftain Pulli to
chieftains known as Tondaman, and that at least
one Tondaman is referred to as having ruled
from Pavattiri over northern Tondaniandalam,
the country dependent upon Tirupati. We do
know of another Tondaman, the famous
Tondaman llam Tiraiyan of whom we have some

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

details of information in the same Tamil
classical collections, particularly one poem
exclusively devoted to him by a poet Kadiyalflr
Kudran Kanijan, who has also a similar poem
on the great ruler Karikala. A Tondaman is
actually referred to in the Puranas as being
specially attached to the God at Tirnpati, and
rendering great service to the temple there by
constructing it for the first time and organising
the worship. Of course, we shall have to take
it> on the basis of these Puranic accounts them-
selves, that this was in all probability the
Tondaman to whom the God at Tirnpati showed
particular favour, by lending him his warlike
weapons, and by giving him instruction in the
secret of the eight letters (Ashtakshara). Apart
from the personalities named, all the three
sources of information collated go to show that
there was a dynasty of rulers in northern
Tondamandalam dominated by Vengadam who
went by the general name Tondamans. But
there is one aspect of history in regard to these
which deserves particular consideration. Speak-
ing of the Tondaman who rendered devoted
service to the temple at Tirupati, the Puranas
refer to his having been the son of a Chola
ruler, as the result of his love to a princess of
the country, whom he was in the habit of
jaeeting by going through a secret passage

FOUNDER OF T1EUPAT1

which may, in modern language, be described
as perhaps a tunnel or a natural cave through
the hills. Of course, the Puranas describe it as
a bhilam, a hollow underground going into the
depths of the earth. The Tondaman devotee of
the God at Tirupati was thus of the Chola
lineage through, of course, a princess of the
locality, who might have been a princess of the
family of the To^daman rulers. The Tondaman
Ilam Tiraiyan is described in terms in the
Perumban-arruppadai as having been born of a
Chola as well, but by a Naga princess, whom
the Chola king met in the city of the Nagas,
Nagapattinam, and with whom he carried on
secret love by going to her through an under-
ground passage which would be the equivalent
of bhilam of the Puranas. Biit this story of a
Naga connection for a Chola ruler and an off-
spring like this is referred to, in a Buddhist
setting, in the Magimekhalai, and all details
concerned being taken together would seem to
indicate the Tondaman Ilam Tiraiyan, the off-
spring of a Chola ruler, successor either
immediate, or one degree remote, of the great
Chola Karikala. But the story here differs in
this particular. She was a Naga princess
undoubtedly, but met the Chola ruler in the
outskirts of his capital at Kaverippumpattinam at
the mouth of the river Kaveri, not Nagapattinam,

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

the city of the Nagas, as Nacchinarkkiniyar
explains the passage in the Perumban-arruppadai
which is actually worded much more generally
and without specific details which would lead
to an identification. The question naturally
would arise whether we should identify the
Tondaman attached to the Grod in the temple
at Tirupati, with Tondaman Ilam Tiraiyan.
While there is nothing in the story specifically
to lead us to an identification, the circumstantial
details given seem to make it possible that the
two personages were perhaps the same ; but
that is hardly enough for a positive identifi-
cation. The Perumban-arruppadai which gives
specific details regarding the Tondaman Ilam
Tiraiyan and mentions the Vishnu temple at
VehkS at Kanchi, makes no mention whatever
of Tirupati, nor of Ilam Tiraiyan's association
with Tirupati. This omission on the part of a
poet who had laid himself out elaborately to
sing the praise of Ilam Tiraiyan is significant,
and stands against an identification between
the two. We have therefore to take it that the
family of the Tondamans that ruled over northern
Tondamandalam had established itself and
achieved a certain amount of distinction before
Ilam Tiraiyan came into existence and attained
to fame, while it may not debar the connection
between the family of Ilam Tiraiyan on the

FOUNDER OF TIRUPATI

mother's side with the Tondaman chieftains of
the region round Tirnpati. We may therefore
have to take the Tondaman devotee of Srmivasa
referred to in the Puranas as one who came before
Tondaman Ilam Tiraiyan, though the possibility
of Ilarn Tiraiyan's mother being connected with
the Tondaman ruler is still made possible.
Therefore the Tondaman of Tirupati probably
came in the generation previous to Tondaman
Ilam Tiraiyan with whose family the Chola
king could have been brought into contact by
the conquest of Tondamandalam by the Chola
ruler Karikala. Ilam Tiraiyan therefore must
have been a ruler of Kanchi who came some-
what later than the Tondaman of Tirupati. We
shall now proceed to consider how far other
evidence supports this position.

CHAPTER III.

TIRUPATI AND THE EARLY ALVARS.

TIRUPATI IN THE PRABANDHA FOUR THOUSAND:
MUDAL ALVARS, THE POUR THOUSAND, ITS

AUTHORS AND THEIR AGE. The iii OB t prominent
piece of literature which throws a considerable
amount of light upon the early history of
Tirupati is " the Prabandha Four Thousand ",
which is a collection of 4,000 stanzas of Tamil
poetry, celebrating the 108 places of worship
sacred to Vishnu by a certain number of
devotees, generally counted twelve, who, because
of their single-minded devotion and the
consequent nearness to God, are called Alvars.
The general period to which the whole body of
this literature is referable happens to be the
five centuries 300 to 800 A. D. These did not
all of them live at one and the same time, and,
if the age of each one of them is not as yet
precisely fixed, a broad classification of these
into early, middle and later, can well be adopted
as a recognised method of classification, and the
probable period of time in which each one of
these groups flourished seems also ascertainable.
Without going into the whole of that question
here, we may take it that three among them
are known as the first Slvars, described as the

TIRUPAT1 AND THE EARLY ALVARS

singers in classical Tamil (Sen Tamil) by
Tirumangai Alvar, namely, Poygai, Bhutam
and Pey, and one other that follows, namely
Tirumalisai. These four constitute the early
Alvars. Of these comparatively little is known
in the matter of life details, and in consequence
we are left without much material by way
of data for fixing their actual period of life.
From the internal evidence of their works,
however, it seems possible to come to some
fairly definite conclusions in regard to their
period of activity, and this, in itself, would
throw a flood of light upon the history of a
shrine like Tirupati, not to mention other
general questions, such as the rise of the cult
of Bhakti, and of the school of Vaishnava
worship generally known as the Pancharatra,
or S-gamaic worship more generally. This
latter class of literature lays down the norms
of the life of a devotee, and prescribes the
various forms in which worship should be
conducted by differing classes of people, with a
view to achieving the ends of existence here,
and attaining to a permanent one hereafter.
It is this form of religion which postulates the
existence of a personal god with attributes,
capable of being pleased by service and of
accepting devotion with a view to secure His
grace ultimately and attain to salvation thereby.

tilSTORY OF TIRUPATl

These Alvars are devotees of Vishnu in that
sense, and their works contain in them how
exactly they devoted themselves to the service
of Grod and attained ultimately to His grace,
thereby providing, at one and the same time,
not only an account of their edifying achieve-
ment, but also lays down a course of conduct
which a devotee might follow with advantage to
achieve the same supreme purpose.

THE FIRST THREE OP THESE AND THEIR LIFE AND

WORTH. Coming* down to their earthly history,
we know almost nothing historically of the first
three except that they were men who were born
in different places and on different dates not
much removed from each other either in point of
place or in point of time. They led a single
wandering life going from place to place, and
visiting Vaishnava holy places. The detail bring-
ing the three together happens to be that they
all met on a rainy night in the narrow vestibule
of a small house in Tirukkovilur with a view to
protection from the inclemencies of the weather.
The first one who came there went in, and
finding the platform that is generally found in
village houses between the front door and the
interior door leading into the house to one side
of the passage, vacant, lay down there for the
night. The second one came there seeking
refuge similarly from the inclemencies of the

TIRUPATI AND THE EARLY ALVARS

weather, and he knocked at the front door.
The one that was already there answered that
all the room that there was, was enough for
one to lie down. Finding that the second
one was a Vaishnava in distress, he added
that, if there was room for one to lie down,
certainly it would be room enough for two
to sit on, and opened the door ; and the two
determined to sit out the night on the narrow
payal. A short time after the third one came
and knocked at the door similarly, and the
two replied, as the one in the former case,
that the place had jiist room for two men to sit
on, and that, if two men could sit, it would be
possible for three men to stand, and so the third
one got admitted ; and all the three resolved to
stand out the whole night, and save themselves
from the violence of the weather, it is said that
God Vishnu, installed in the temple in the
locality, was pleased with their devoted service
to him, and, wishing to show himself to them,
came with his consort Lakshmi, without whom
he does not usually proceed, particularly where
acts of grace are intended, and, seeking admis-
sion as the others did before, almost squeezed the
three out of their place by extending his body
gradually and pressing them out. In the course
of this process it dawned upon them that they
were being tested by no less than God himself,

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

and they broke out into song in praise of God,
each one of them his own way. Each one of
these is the author of one centum or a hundred
of the Prabandha referred to above, and these,
along with certain other pieces of literature of
this school, constitute one main division named
lyarpa in the Prabandha.

THE GENERAL CHARACTER OP THEIR WORKS. Of

these the first, aiid by far the most interesting,
is Poygai llvar. Poygai is the author of the
first centum of the last thousand of the Four
Thousand in the Prabandha. The first part of the
word Poygai means a tank, a bathing tank,
attached to the temple at Vehka in Conjeevaram.
Alvar is the sacerdotal honorific given to this
class of Vaishnava devotees, holy ones in near
association with God himself. He seems to be
the person referred to by commentators, particu-
larly by one commentator on the Alankara
grantha named Yapparungalam belonging to
the llth or 12th century A. D., to which a
commentary was written by a disciple of the
author himself. This commentator qiiotes two
stanzas from this centum, namely 40 and 51,
as extracted from the author Poygaiyar. The
latter part of the word in Tamil is a respectful
honorific meaning a person belonging to or born
in Poygai. So the difference of this designation

TIRUPATI AND THE EARLY ALVARS

from that of the previous one consists merely
in this that the person so referred to is not
given the Vaishnava sacerdotal name, but still
the quoting author feels that he ought to be
referred to, or quoted with, due respect as the
esteemed one coming of Poygai, the place.
He is referred to by others as one who composed
principally in the Ve$ba metre, and is counted
as a model in that kind of composition along
with other ancient Tamil classics famous for
that. So this Alvar was not only a Vaishnava
devotee, but one who occupied a high place
among the celebrities in Tamil literature. The
question whether he is the same as the one
who composed the Kalavali Forty, celebrating
the victory of the Chola king Semkan over a
contemporary Ohera ruler, Kanaikkal Irumporai,
is more open to doubt. The first centum ascribed
to him was sung by him when the idea dawned
upon him that it was Grod Vishnu himself that
was practically elbowing them out of the narrow
payal where he and his two companions had
found shelter from the inclement weather. This
idea is said traditionally to have risen in the
three simultaneously, and each broke out, in his
own characteristic way, into praising Vishnu in a
hundred verses. The first Poygai made the
whole universe, the lamp vessel, the oceans, the
ghee for feeding the lamp, the sun himself, the
burning wick, and, lighting such a lamp, he
placed, at the lotus feet of the One with the

67
8

HISTORY OF TIRUPAT1

idazing disc, his garland of verse in order that
the great ocean of evil besetting him may leave
him. The second in his own way made his own
loving devotion (anbu) the lamp vessel, his
ardour (dravam) for service the ghee for feeding
the lamp, and his mind melting with goodness,
the lamp wick. He lighted the lamp of true
knowledge (gnana) and dedicated it to God
Narayana, as one capable of incorporating his
divine knowledge in Tamil verse. The third on
the contrary broke out " Lo, I see the Goddess
£ri. I see the golden body, I see the colour
of the rising sun. I see the glorious disc. I see
the dextral conch. I see all this in Him of the
colour of tlie ocean, dear to me. " The upshot
of all the three is that the unlocked for and
the ununderstood incommoding of these people
by a pressure for which they could not divine a
cause, put them in mind of the Supreme, and
this community of thought runs through and
through the three centums, though of three
separate authors.

REFERENCES TO TIRUPATI IN THE FIRST CENTUM.

Our concern in regard to these three centa of
verse is not so much their import or philosophy,
but merely their bearing upon the history of
the shrine at Tirupati. The first of these Poygai
has as many as 12 to 15 direct references to
Tirupati in the centum ascribed to him. He
refers to the place incidentally as one of the

frlRUPATI AND THE EARLT ALVARS

places in which Vishnu in his grace has shown
himself to mortal eyes for purposes of devotion
and worship, so that people in this sin-promoting
world might find it possible to realise the
Supreme, and, by that means, shake off the
shackles of the results of their deeds and attain
to ultimate salvation. These references are
of the utmost importance as they give us an
insight into some of the characteristic features
of the shrine, and have also been in a way
responsible for certain false theories as to
the actual character of the temple itself. The
first point, a point perhaps of the greatest
importance, is certain peculiar features in the
image of the Grod at Tirupati which made it
possible for raising a doubt whether the image
enshrined in the temple is actually an image
of Vishnu or £iva or some other manifestation.
Without going into the claims set up and
adjudicating as between rival claims, we shall
have to consider what exactly these authors
have said about the temple. Stanzas 5 and 74 *

* Jjirear iBrnreoorear

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HISTORY OF T1RUPAT1

of the first centum run like this. "His name,
Aran (Hara) and Naranan (Narayana), His
vehicle, the bull and the bird ; His word, the
book (Tarn. Nul equiv. Sans : Tantra, the
Agamas), and Marai (Veda) ; the house of
residence, the hill (Kailasa) and the waters
(the ocean) ; His function, destruction and pro-
tection ; the weapon in hand, the trident-spear
and the disc ; His form, though one, is fire
and dark cloud. " This is almost repeated in a
somewhat different form in stanza 74 where it
is said " He rides the bull and the bird. He
burnt the castle (the three castles in the air)
and broke open the heart (tore up Hiranya's
chest with his claws as man-lion (Narasimha) ;
He is smeared over with ash (Vibhuti) ; He is
of the saphire blue colour. Part of His body
is a lady (Parvati), and in one part is the lady
born of the lotus, Sri or Lakshmi. His coiffure,
the long matted locks ; His head covered by
a tall crown; He wears the Granga (Ganges)
on His head (Siva), and on His lengthening foot
(Vishnu Trivikrama) ". Here it will be clear that
Grod is described as though he were possessed
of a twin form, each with its own characteristic
set of features and weapons ; and, superficially
interpreted, it might be held to mean that the
form of the image is, to say the least, Hari
Hara in one, Vishnu-Siva; and so it has been

TIRUPATI AND THE EARLY ALVARS

seriously held on this evidence, and the con-
tention raised that the temple was actually a
Siva temple. These two stanzas of which a
translation is given above have certainly no
reference to Vengadain or Tirupati in either of
them. But it may not be so baseless to regard
it as applying to Tirupati, because Tirupati is
under reference in this author in a number
of places, and, on the whole, some of the
less usual and more recondite features of the
image at Tirupati seem to lend colour to this
interpretation. Before proceeding to draw the
important conclusion whether it is a Siva shrine
or a Vishnu shriae on the statement of this
author, we are bound in simple fairness to
interpret the author of the centum as a whole,
first of all to ascertain whether the deity having
the greatest appeal to him is really Siva or
Vishnu, doubtful details notwithstanding. The
Vaishnava holy places are 108, and the Siva
holy places are supposed to be 1,008. In all the
works of these it would be difficult to trace a
reference to any one of the oaiva holy places
as such, while all the holy places referred to
by their specific names happen to be Vaishnava
holy places. The first is Srirangam in stanza
6, Vengadam itself in a number of others,
Vinnagar, Vehka, Tirukkovilur (in 77). Of
these places mentioned by him, it is doubtful

if Vinnagar has reference to a place on earth,
as in this place God Vishnu is said, in that
stanza, to be seated which is taken to be only in
heaven (Vaikuritha). There are places called
Vinnagar, one very prominently near Kumbha-
konam, where the posture of the image
representing God is not that. The other places
are within comparatively easy reach of Kanchi,
which is the birthplace of this Alvar, Vehka
is in Kanchi itself. Tirukkovilur is not at
any great distance from it, and so Vengadam.
orirangam may be counted a little farther, but
perhaps the great reputation of the shrine may
have brought it within his reach. These three
5lvars are said to have been moving from place
to place on pilgrimage bound, although we do
not find them mentioning the more distant places
as the other Alvars do. But what is really more
useful for our purpose is that Poygai was
associated with the town of Kanchi directly, the
more so than even Tirukkovilfir, and the details
that he gives of Tirupati would perhaps warrant
an equally intimate acquaintance. The reference
to orirangam is however only a single reference,
and that says actually nothing more about the
place than that he saw and worshipped God
enshrined there. The most therefore that we
could say about it is that he visited Srirangam.
In regard to Tirupati, however, stanza 26 refers

TIRUPATI AND THE EARLY ALVARS

to Tirupati, the saving grace of which is enjoyed
by the Gods themselves. In stanza 37 there is a
more explicit reference. It refers to Vengadam
again as " a place acceptable to the God who
blew the beautiful white conch, which receives
constant worship from people of great learning
who offered daily worship with incense, lamp,
holy water, and proceeded to offer the worship
from all directions." There is a similar reference
to Vengadam in stanza 39 where the God " who
lies on the deep blue sea, who lifted the earth,
and who killed Kamsa by striking fear into him,
is in a standing posture." Stanza 40 refers to
Vengadam as well, but gives only a secular
feature of the place where elephants are referred
to as if threatened by the falling stars in the
belief that they were torches held by the Kuravars
of the place. There is another reference in
stanza 68. This reference again is rather more
general, that " the God Vishnu is in the heaven
on earth " in Vengadam, and in the four Vedas.
Stanza 76 refers to Tiruvengadam describing the
God there as the one who measured the earth
(Vishnu-Trivikrama), Stanza 77 similarly refers
to Vengadam where the image of God stands
along with the other three places, Vinnagar,
Vehka, and Kovaliir in which respectively He
sat, He lay in bed and He walked. In stanza 82
there is a reference to Vengadam, but the

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

description of the place given here is worth
noting for more reasons than one. Vengadam is
here described as the hill of him who on a
former day shot effectively the deer (Rama
killing the deer Maricha). But the description
of the hill is interesting. It says that on
Dvada§is (the 12th lunar day) ladies were
accustomed to offer worship with garlands and
incense, which latter sent up so much smoke
which made the sky itself clouded and the stars
indistinct. * It must be noticed here that ladies
were accustomed to offering worship, naturally
with incense and flowers. It happened to be
particularly on the 12th day of the fortnight.
This Dvada§i festival is counted the holiest
among the large number of annual festivals
organized in connection with the shrine at
Tirupati, and the 12th day is described in the
Puranas as peculiarly holy in respect of Vishnu
and that in Tirupati. Stanza 86 does not refer
to Tirupati but refers to Tirukkovilur, and to the
incident of the meeting of the three Alvars that
took place at Ihe vestibule of the house there.
The last reference to Tirupati is in stanza 99
where Vishnu is spoken of as Eternal, and being

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(82)

TIRUPAT1 AND THE EARLY ALVARS

in the heart of everyone who is capable of
thinking of Him, as He is habitually in residence
on the waters, and in the hill of Vengadam. In
all these stanzas where there is a reference to
Vengadam,- while some references are general,
a number, however, make specific reference to
Vishnu as the presiding deity, either in general
terms, or in one of his innumerable manifesta-
tions, thus leaving very little doubt that the
Alvar regarded the shrine in Tirupati as a Vishnu
shrine. This could be reinforced by the state-
ment in stanzas 58, 64 and 65 which give
evidence that the Alvar is devoted only to
Vishnu and to nobody else, thereby raising
the presumption that he worshipped Tirupati,
only as a place holy to Vishnu. But as if
to put the matter beyond a doubt, he refers in
two stanzas * to his conviction that the Grod in
Tirupati is Vishnu beyond a doubt. He states
in stanza 98 that " the golden coloured holy
One with the matted locks (Siva), and the

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66
9

HISTORY OF TIRUPAT1

One who stood and stretched out to measure
the universe (Vishnu-Trivikrama), though these
two may move about and have their being in
two bodies, the one of them (the former of them)
is in the body of the other one (the latter) ;
this would explain, and perhaps is meant to
explain, the conviction of the author that Vishnu
could be represented as bearing £iva in his
body. This is made the more clear in stanza
28 where Vishnu is addressed directly ; " Oh,
Dark One ! In your hands are the dextral
conch, and the disc. In your chest rests the
flower born (Lakshmi). In your navel is the
young author of the Veda. In one part of
the body — generally described as on the right
side — is the Irai (king) who destroyed the three
fortresses (SSiva) ". So far therefore as Poygai
£lvar is considered, he may be regarded as
a strict worshipper, whose devotion was paid
only to Vishnu, who could regard the worship
of other deities particularly Siva and Brahma
as not altogether unobjectionable, as in the
last resort they form but a part, in orthodox
Vaishnava notion, of the body of Vishnu himself.
On this basis therefore if we find the image
in Tirupati sometimes described as exhibiting
features of oiva which is really the material
point here, it is only in this aspect of £iva
forming a part of Vishnu's body, Vishnu being

TIttltPATI AND THE EARLY ALVAItS

the soul, all else in existence being His body.
It is only another way of stating the principle
of immanence of Vishnu. It would not therefore
do to fasten upon stray references, and one
or two expressions, such as Ilam Kumaran
tan Viqqagar as implying that the presiding
deity at Tirupati is Ilam Kumaran (the
youthful young man, and therefore Subrah-
manya). It cannot be so interpreted as the
youthfulness of the deity is under reference in
dozens of other places where the frolicsome
youth is unmistakably described as the youth-
ful Krishna, Balakrishna, and as such, the
equation with Subrahmanya, Skanda-Subrah-
ma^ya cannot hold. We may very well point
out here that the idea is not peculiar to this
Alvar, and is rather one of those general ideas
constituting the Vaishnava conviction. The
sentiment runs through the works of all the
AJvars, and we might refer here prominently
to stanza 481 of the Tiruvaymoli where Siva
of the bull-vehicle, Brahma of the four faces
and Lakshmi alike claim parts of his body for
their habitual residence. It therefore becomes
clear that the conception of the three in one is
neither strange nor peculiar, but is more or less
an integral part of the concept of Vishnu as the
Supreme. It is possible to pick out a certain
number of stanzas from this centum which

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

would throw a distinct light upon the Vaishnava
character of the worship prescribed.

One more point in regard to Poygai Alvar
may be worth mentioning here as bearing upon
this particular question, namely, stanza 53,
where the close association of the serpent oesha
or Ananta with Vishnu * is stated with a view,
according to the Vaishnava commentators, to
declare to the world the intimate connection
between Sesha and Vishnu as almost body
and soul, which is the relation in which the
Supreme is held in connection with all else.
The statement here is that the great snake is to
Vishnu (Tirumal) an umbrella when he walks, a
throne when he sits, the wooden platform or
sandal when he stands, the eternal bed when he
sleeps on the sea. He also serves as the jewel
lamp, or fine soft silk vestment, and the pillow
beside him in bed. The notion that the Sesha
serpent constitutes a soft white silk which forms
the upper garment of Vishnu, would explain
the symbolism of the snake that is said to be
seen in parts of his body of the image of
Venkatesa at Tirupati. We may have to refer
to this detail later.

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(53)

SRI VENK ATESA-SESHAVAHAN A ISERPENT VEHICLE) (To fact pate 68)

TIRUPATI AND THE EARLY ALVARS

Passing on now to the second of this group
of Alvars, Alvar Bhutan as he is called, this
Ajvar likewise refers to Vengadam in eight
places or stanzas directly. The first reference
is in stanza 25 where Vishnu is described as
standing on the hill at Tirupati, and is referred
to as the one who marched on Lanka and
killed, in anger, Havana. Stanza 33 merely
expresses devotion to Vishnu as he manifests
himself in Vengadam. In stanza 45 he makes
a similar general reference, and in stanza 46
Vengadam figures among a number of places
such as Srirangam, Tirukkoltiyur, and Tirumr-
malai. In stanza 48 there is a reference to

Ipum-Solai, which is interpreted by the commen-
tators as indicating Tirupati ; but the reference
seems none the less to Tirumal Irum Solai, which
is referred to as Ilam-giri, and in stanza 54 as
Ilam-Ko vil. The reason for the use of the attribute
is riot quite clear unless it be in reference to the
inhabitants of the locality who were of the
hunter class, often referred to as Ilaiyar, or the
association of the place with young Krishna in
which sense the name is used for Tirucchanur
apparently. In stanza 70 the Alvar refers to
a number of Vishnu shrines : Tanjai (Tanjore),
Arangam, Ta$-kal, as in the minds of those
devoted to Him ; as also the cool hill and
the ocean where they place Him. Mamallai

MlSTOttt OF TIRUPAfl

(Mahabalipuram), Koval (Tirukkovalur) and
Kucjandai (Kumbhako^am) are similarly places
cherished by them. In stanza 72 there is a
general reference again to Vengadam, where the
very monkeys offer fully blossomed lotus flowers
in worship. Stanza 75 contains a similar secular
reference in which Tirupati is said to be the
residence of the Grod of the blue colour where the
male elephant is described as pulling out the
tender shoot of the bamboo and giving it to its
mate after carefully dipping it in honey. In
addition to the usual Vaishnava holy places, this
Alvar makes reference to a place Padaham in
Kanchi in stanza 94 ; as also to Altiyur (Vishnu-
kanchi of iiow-a-days,) in 95, and Kudamukkil
(Kumbhakonam) in 97. Stanza 28 * equates
the deity presiding in Vengadam as the same
as that in £rirangam, and both of them alike
are described as the young one who tore up the
animal by the mouth, Krishna, and the general
reference in 46 to a number of Vishnu shrines
would give the same impression.7 Stanza 54 is a
little more specific where it states that Tirumal
Ifiiin Solai near Madura and Vengadam are the
two places where the God was pleased to stand

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TIRUPATI AND THE EARLY ALVARS

and present himself to his devotees. Stanza
60 of this centum calls for attention where the
Supreme is regarded as of two forms. One of
these two however is subordinated to the
other, which is the first, much as Poygai and
Nammalvar make Siva arid Brahma as forming
part of Vishnu's body. This stanza is however
interpreted in a more general way by commen-
tators. So it comes out clearly that Bhutat
Alvar, no less than Poygai Alvar, was devoted
to Tirupati as a Vishnu shrine to which he was
extremely devoted, notwithstanding the features
which may seem Saiva at first sight. There
are stanzas in this centum which could be picked
out detailing the ordinary norms of worship
of all the Vaishnavas. One feature in particular
has to be noted in respect of this Alvar, which
is also a common feature in the others, that
the best form of worship is the orthodox Vaidic
way ; but it is recognised simultaneously that
it is not actually possible for all. It certainly
is the best for those that can do it; but, for
those who cannot, other forms of worship are
prescribed equally efficient in saving power ;
and, among these, the most efficient is the mere
recital of the name of Madhava as equally
capable of saving. As a typical instance we
might give the substance of stanzas 38 and 39.
In the first he admonishes people against

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

deluding themselves in the possession of the
wealth that they may have, but exhorts them to
devote themselves to that which is the mainstay
for one's permanent good. The recital of His
name, with a mind devoted to Madhava, is our
eternal saviour. It is stated in the next stanza
that even the significance of the Veda is this
alone, and therefore " Poor mortals, learn how
to offer your devotion to God by reciting His
name in the proper form. If you are learned
in the Veda, well and good. If you are not,
keep repeating His name with devotion ; for the
recital of His name is the abbreviation of the
reciting of the Vedas themselves. " * We can
quote stanzas of this import from Poygai Alvar
and the others as well.

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TIRUPATI AND THE EARLY ALVARS

This idea of a single-minded devotion shown
in the form of a simple prayer addressed to
him by the mere repetition of his name, is
enforced in several other stanzas. Stanza 64
expresses the hope that it might be given to
the Alvar to realise Him who is described in
the Itihasas (Katha) and the Vedas, the very
names incorporating what is said of Him in
these. He begins with 62 where he professes
that he did not know His name before, nor has
he had the chance since of acquiring it in
proper form ; but that he bowed down in
worship with the recitation of His names as
they came to him, though different in form.
In 6B he speaks of his bowing in reverence at
sight of His form, his offering lotus flowers
at His feet with his own hands, and he came
down to the conviction to devote himself to His
service, so that when the opportunity came he
could attain to the nearness where he can for
ever remain iu perpetual prayer. In 66 he
declares his faith that all this life is nothing
more than the repetition of the name of Narana
(Sans. Narayana), and by so doing, remove
the causes that take one near to hell. In 67 he
comes to a confession which is reinforced in
stanza 81, He speaks of his having seen the
form of God in a dream. Even in that dream
he saw in His hand the golden disc. He was

78
10

HISTORY OF TIEUPATI

able to realise the strength of Him even then,
which puts an end to the good and bad in
him and prevents other such befalling him
hereafter. In 81 he speaks of his having
seen Him by day, and that none other than
Narayana. He dreamt of Him again the more.
Then he realised Him in truth, and arrived at
the settled conviction of the form of Him of
the golden disc, His light-emitting feet, and
His form, the very emanation of heavenly light.
Then in 86 he asks what it was that great poets
who offer worship, with fresh flowers along
with their verses, gained ; that which they
were not able to realise by their true penance,
" how am I going to realise ; by what form of
penance am I to realise it now ? It is not by
my penance now, that I am going to realise
His great feet which measured the great earth
itself. I realise, in all His greatness, Him, my
father of Tirukkottiyur, because I worshipped
Him when I was still suffering in the womb
from which I was brought into existence ".
Then he comes to his satisfaction in 90 when
he declares roundly what it was that he could
do. " Shall I not hold rule over this earth ;
will I not mount up to heaven by becoming
the great one among the great in heaven itself ;
once I have approached and offered my sincere
worship to Him, Lord Vishnu ". It would be

fIRUPATI AND THE EARLY ALVARS

easy in this connection to select about a dozeti
verses from this collection which would put in a
nutshell the teachings of the Bhakti school of
Vaishnavism in all its orthodox aspects, withal
simple, and designed, not for serving the purpose
of worship by the elite, but to subserve similar
ends for the quite ordinary folk.

PEY ALVAR. We come to the last of the triad,
Pey Alvar, of whom we know nothing in regard
to the details of his life except that he was born
in a well next adjoining the shrine of Kesava
Perumal, which well is now pointed out as the
one in Arundal Street, Mylapore. We know
nothing of his birth or his parents, and the date
that is given for him in the Gruru Paramparas
is of the same kind as the dates for the other
two. While the other two who each of them
lighted the lamp of divine knowledge in his own
way with a view to the realisation of God, this
Alvar on the contrary, breaks out " Lo, I see
ori. I see His golden form. I see the glorious
effulgence of the rising sun. I see the golden
disc exuberant for war. I see the conch of the
dextral curl. All these I see in my dear One of
the blue colour of the sea. " And immediately
follows the confession that, having seen His feet,
he destroyed all the seven of his births then and
there, and then he proceeds to describe all that

Tfr

titSTORY OF TIBUPAtl

he knows of Vishnu and his saving qualities.
In stanza 11 he declares roundly " He is there in
the four Vedas well cultivated, He of the colour
of the flowing water fresh and fragrant. He is
in the ocean of milk,, on the bed of the great
serpent, the wise one who is churned out of the
sea of sciences (Tarn. Nul ; Sans. Tantra) by
the learned ones, and comprehensible only to
those of the most acute intelligence ; shutting
out the passions by the bolt of wisdom, and
cultivating the secret wisdom of the Vedas, the
wise ones will realise easily the nature of Him
who is of the colour of the sea. " The first
reference to Vengadam occurs in stanza 14
where He is said to be " the One in Vengadam
whom the heavenly ones worship with their high
crowned heads, and Who is said to preside in the
Veda of the four divisions. " In stanza 16 there
is a reference to Triplicane (Tiruvallikkeiji) and
the God is described as one bearing the lotus
born (Lakshmi) in his chest. In stanza 26 he
declares that the God is either resident in his
own heart, on the body of the red-eyed serpent,
in the full and prosperous Kacchi (Kanchi) ; in
Vengadam, Vehka and Velukkaippadi (a part
of Kanchi) which he never quits. A similar
sentiment is expressed in stanza 30 where the
place that Vishnu liked to reside in is the
ocean, Ku^andai (KumbhakoQam), Vengadam,

fIRUPATI AND THE BARLf AL^AttS

the properly intuned mind, the vast expanse of
heaven, then Padaham, full of people learned in
the Veda, Ananta-^esha, the great £esha-serpent
and the garland of sweet basil. Stanza 31
similarly speaks of "these are the temples of
Him who tore up the heart of Hiranya by the
assumed form of a lion, or a serpent with unseen
ears, the four Vedas and the ocean of milk. But
the statement is here thrown in that the great
Siva carrying the Ganga on his head of the
bull vehicle, forms a part of his body. In 32
comes a similar recital of his abode as the ocean
of milk, Vengadam, oesha-serpent, the heaven,
the ocean of sciences, the lotus figure prescribed
by the Agama Sastras (Nun-nfll), the mind of
those devoted to Him. " That One is no other
than the shepherd boy who broke the twin
Kurunda tree. " * Vengadam is here described

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as the place sacred to Gropalaka. In stanzas
39 and 40, Vengadam is referred to as the holy
place of Vishnu, and the latter gives the detail
that He measured the earth by bringing it all
under His one foot. Stanza 45 gives the important
detail that Vengadam was full of elephants and
was " the hill of Him who carried the earth at
the point of his tusk. " Stanzas 45 to 57 seem to
be a continuation of the sentiment actually
expressed in the latter part of the stanza 45, and
refer to the various achievements of Vishnu
in his manifestations as Rama, Krishna, etc.,
following up, as it were, the reference to Varaha
Avatara in the last line of stanza 45. He takes
up the reference to Vengadam in 58 again, and
comes up in the last line to the same references
that the God in Vengadam is, " He who recovered
the earth by the use of his acute intelligence ",
referring to his having outwitted Mahabali and
got him to grant the three feet of earth. In
stanza 59, the Alvar gives expression to his
satisfaction that he had attained to the correct
gaining salvation, since he attaches
^devotion to Vishnu. In the next
three sfafj&afl^Jie makes reference to various of
: pl^f^l^e^ivities of Vishnu, and the places

his habitual residence.

T1RUPAT1 AND THE EARLY ALVARS

* Among these figure Vengadam, the ocean
of milk, and Vaikuntham as his ancient
residence. These are described to be the seat
of the youth (Ilam-Kumaran). In the following
stanza similarly are mentioned a number of
places, Vinnagaram, Vehka, Vengadam, Veluk-
kaippadi, Kudaiidai (Kumbhakonam), Tiru-
Arangam (Sriraugam), Kotti (Tirukkottiyur).
The last line specifies that these are places
where " the One who received in the half-closed
palm of His hand the water in token of gift ",
referring obviously to His accepting the grant
of three feet of earth from the emperor Bali,
given to Him with pouring of water. Stanza 63
is important as it says clearly that " To Him,
my father who is 011 the hill (Tirumalai), both
the forms have combined into one (the forms

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(62)

(63)
79

HISTORY OF TIRUPAT1

of £iva and Vishnu) ". The previous lines
mention that, in His form, appear the flowing
matted locks of hair and the high peaked crown,
the shining dagger and the golden disc, the
snake around the hip and the zone of gold alike.
The next stanza makes a reference merely
to Vishmi in the lying posture at Veljka
in Kanchi. The next three stanzas refer to
incidents generally ascribed to Vishnu ; but the
following stanza must be noted, as, in the last
two lines, it states clearly that the " hill of
Vengadam is the hill of Him who whilom threw
the calf at the wood-apple tree for bringing the
fruits down ", thus putting it beyond a doubt
that he regarded the hill as belonging to Vish^u-
Krishna. The next five stanzas each one makes
a reference to Vengadatn ; while 69 and 70
only refer to some general features, 71 repeats
the statement almost in the same terms to the
incidents referred to in stanza 68. In 72 there
is the specific statement that Vengadam is the
residence of " the prince among the youth "
(Ilam-Kumarar-Koman). Stanza 73 has a
reference to Vengadam but in general terms ;
75 has similarly a general reference to Tiru-
malai as the hill of Vishnu-Krishna (5yan,
shepherd). Stanza 76 states definitely that, if
one should offer flowers and fold his hands
in worship before the God at Ve^ka, no

TIRUPATI AND THE EARLY ALVARS

consequences of evil deeds would come to him,
and that one need not stand amidst hills, or dip
into water, or otherwise perform penance by
standing amidst the five fires. Stanzas 77 to 88
recommend single-minded devotion to Vishnu
as the sole efficient way of getting rid of evil
and attaining to salvation. 89 refers to Vengadam
and states clearly " it is the hill of the One who
applied his lips to the flute emitting sweet
music " (meaning young Krishna). * Stanzas
90 to 93 are general as usual, and 94 states
that the Alvar succeeded in recapturing Him,
who stands, sits or lies down (in various holy
places) and in his own heart by the process of
lighting the lamp of contemplation. Stanza 97
makes Vishnu impossible even for contemplation
by Brahma and oiva. Stanzas 99 to 100 are
again confessions of faith ; but in 99 there is
a reference to the eight weapons of Vishnu
wielded in eight hands, placing him specifically
in Attapuyakaram (Sans. Ashta Bhuja Karam),
a suburb of Kanchi. This brings us to the
end of the third centum which is the work of
Pey Alvar.

QJ/TIL/ CBcu^^nrcor fleuiiL/. (89)

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI
THEIR COMMUNITY OP RELIGIOUS FEELING. These

three Alvars are together called the first Alvars
because they were considered to have been
contemporary, and the earliest among those
known in Vaishnava parlance as Alvars. We
shall see later that the next following one was
probably also their contemporary and the four
together will have to be assigned to the same
age. The three centum s which constitute the
work of these three have such close similarity of
features that it may be held on this ground alone
that they were contemporaries, and probably
flourished at the same time and in the same
religious atmosphere. Each one of those may
be regarded more or less in three parts for our
purposes. The first is general. In almost every
stanza of the hundred there is a reference, direct
or indirect to Vishnu ; some one or other of his
beneficent manifestations is alluded to and it is
made to serve to enforce the same conclusion,
namely that Vishnu is the Supreme Saviour of
all, and there is no saviour other than He. It is
sometimes recognised that benefits falling short
of the eternal could be obtained of others, but it
is carefully pointed out that ultimately these
others are no more than other beings of the
creation, and constitute as much and as really
the body of the Supreme which is immanent
in all; that Supreme is, according to these, no

P1RUPAT1 AND THE EARLY ALVAR8

other than Vishnu. Among the allusions which
are scattered about through their works, the
most striking ones are those relating to Krishna*
while there are incidents relating to the other
Avataras of Vishnu which also find frequent
reference. There is a certain amount of
commonness in the references even to these
particular incidents among the three, which
would make them products of the same religious
surroundings more or less. Being entirely
devotees of Vishnu they refer naturally to
Vaishnava holy places which are traditionally
counted 108 in number, but it cannot be said
that all the 108 are referred to in the writings
of these. These refer to a certain number, each
one particularly, and among them Tirupati
figures perhaps more frequently than any other
single place not even orlrangam excepted. Hence
it is that these 5lvars are regarded as having
devoted their poems exclusively to Vengadam
by the commentators.

THE NORM OP WORSHIP AMONG THESE. In regard
to the norms of worship, these Alvars recognise
the efficacy of vaidlc ceremonies, and regard
worship according to Vedic ritual as of the
highest importance and efficacy. They recognise
at the same time that it is a kind of worship which
is possible only for the elite, and requires

titSTORY OF TIRUPAft

learning of a high order, and a training and
discipline which is beyond the competence of
ordinary folk. In fact they recognise frankly
that this course of religions service is possible
only for the very elect, even among the
Brahmans. They are at pains therefore, not
exactly perhaps to devise, but to emphasise the
other norms capable of being more easily
practised, being more simple in the performance.
What is essential is the sincerity of the worship
offered, not exactly the elaborateness of the
ritual, so that it will be found that in places they
do make broad references to these elaborate
rituals and say plainly that they certainly are
very good for those who can go through that
course of worship of God who, to them, is Vishnu
and no other. But then it is not possible for all.
They therefore prescribe other courses generally
accepted as of efficacy at the time, and these,
it will be found, are almost the same as the
course of worship prescribed in the chapters on
BhaktiySga of the Bhagavatgita and in the
Pancharatra. In these again they recognise the
value of knowledge (gnana} and regard gnanayoga
as of high efficacy. But falling short of that,
comes the offer of worship with flowers and
incense, and prayers of various kinds. That
means worship offered in private houses of
individuals and in shrines intended for the

MRUPATI AND THE EARLY

worship of the particular worshipping community.
But where even this is found too elaborate for
adoption, as it might well be for those who
may not have the means, material as well as
intellectual, they go one simpler, and merely
prescribe repetition of the name of the saving
Grod. The most popular of several of these
saving names is what is generally described in
Vaishnava parlance the ashtakshara, the name of
eight letters, namely Narayana with the praaava
before and the affix following. This simple form
of worship it will be seen is capable of perfor-
mance by all whatever their condition in life,
and, by each one, by himself or herself alone,
without the aid of a priest or anybody else.
This transformation of the highly ritualistic
religion described as Brahmanism is what
transformed Brahmanism into Hinduism, and is
the actual work of a school -of thought which
may for convenience be described as the bhakti
school. It may be that we are able to trace
back the history of the bhakti cult at least to
the Upanishads very plainly, if not to the Veda
itself. But that is not our concern for the
present. That the school of bhakti it is that
was responsible for the simplification of worship
which transformed Brahmanism into Hinduism
is a matter that ought to be borne in mind
in studying the history of the holy shrine at

atsvour OF TIEUPATI

Tirupati, The work of these early 5lvars shows
this transformation as having been completely
effected, and is in full swing of active practice.
There is also a hint here and there in the work
even of these 5lvars that the ideas of popular
worship current at the time had perhaps other
leanings, namely, towards the two rival religions
of Buddhism and Jainism, in both of which
the fundamental principle of religious worship
is something essentially different. It is not real
worship or service that brought about salvation.
It is much rather knowledge of a particular kind
which illumined the nature of life and the right
conduct in life activity, without reference to a
personal Grod and the attainment of salvation by
worship and service to Him. In the first centum
Poygai 5.1var states " who will hereafter enter
the gates of hell (Naraka) ? Bolt its door with-
out any compunction, because this land
surrounded by the Jambu tree has now learned
very well that the feet of Him who threw the
calf to bring down the fruit of the wood-apple
is the sole saviour ". This seems intended
to indicate the successful vogue this new
teaching had attained to. That may give us an
idea also of the actual age of its popularity,
and the circumstances under which this
movement attained to the popularity that it
actually did.

TIRUPATI AND THE EARLY ALVARS
SIVA-VISHNU COMBINATION A FEATURE OP VISHNU

AT TIRUPATI. It was pointed out above that
these are essentially Vaishnavas. But they
actually describe Vishnu in a number of places
as being compounded of the features of oiva
and Vishnu. They go the whole length of
describing circumstantially the various weapons
which form the characteristic features of these
deities as being seen in one and the same image
at certain places, among them primarily Tiru-
pati. On the face of it one is likely to get the
impression that the image so described ought
at least to be regarded as the image of God in
the twin Hari-Hara form. We shall not now
go into the controversy as to the nature of the
image at Tirupati. We shall return to that
later. But from the description by these Alvars
one is likely to get the general impression that
the image described is the image of Harihara.
It is important to note it here, as that is not
merely a feature of the description of Vishnu by
these Alvars, but other Alvars also indulge in
this, particularly Nammalvar, so that it is to
be regarded more or less as a feature of the
times to describe the supreme deity Vishnu
in these terms. While therefore a number of
stanzas could be selected from the writings of
these three Alvars which imply Siva alone in
some, Siva and Brahma in others, forming part

HISTORY OF T1RUPAT1

of the body of the deity, it is clear that in so
describing they had no more idea than to
point out what is plainly pointed out in one
of the poems of Nammalvar that these deities
were as much his creatures and constituted
his body as other created beings, and that their
appeal lay to the Supreme One who is above
these. Stanza 98 of the first centum says in so
many words that while the holy One of the
colour of molten gold and of the matted locks,
and the One who stood with one foot on earth
and measured out the universe by the other,
though these two live and move about in two
different bodies, the one (the first one) is in the
body of the other. That sentiment is expressed
somewhat differently in stanza 28 of the same
5lvar. " You carry in Your hand the dextral
conch and the disc, O, My Lord of the blue colour.
On Your chest is the daughter of the flower
(lotus). The young author of the Veda is in
Your naval, and the lordly One who destroyed
the three fortresses is on one side of Your body".
Stanzas of the same import could be quoted
from the other two authors as well. So then
the description which apparently conveys the
impression that the image of Vishnu is part
&iva and part Vishnu is not to be interpreted
as involving the conception of the form of
God being that of Harihara, and should be

TIRUPATI AND THE EARLY ALVAR8

interpreted as that of Hari himself normally
and necessarily carrying the other deities as
his body.

THE PRESIDING DEITY IN VENGADAM IS VISHNU

ACCORDING TO THESE. Coming down to the
specific references to Vengadam in these 5lvars
and their description of the deity there, we find
that, while no doubt in a few places, about
half a dozen all told, the description may be
regarded as of £iva-Vishmi combination in
form, yet on closer examination, it will be found
that they do not leave it in any doubt that the
deity that they offer worship to in Vengadam
is Vishnu and none other ; and such des-
cription as give the indication of biva forming
a part of Vishnu is nothing peculiar to Siva
alone, as Brahma, Lakshmi and the very
weapons characteristic of Vishnu are in terms
so described as part of Vishnu's body, almost
in the same terms as Siva. There are about
35 references to Vengadam in these 300 stanzas
which have been referred to in detail in the
pages immediately preceding. Some of these
references are either very general, or make a
poetical reference to some feature or other of
Tirupati. But there are some which give one
unmistakably to understand that the God
worshipped in the shrine there is distinctly
Vishnu and no other. Stanzas 33 to 40 of

89
12

HISTORY OF T1EUPATI

Poygai JLlvar make reference to Tirupati in
each case definitely. In the first it is said that
Vengadam to which the le arned in the Veda
come and offer wors hip from all points of the
compass, is the shrine of Him who blew the
white conch ; without a doubt Vishnu. The
next one speaks of Vengadam as the town of
Mai at the mention of whose name the Asuras
felt frightened. In 39, Vengadam is described
as a place where the God is said to be in a
standing posture, the God who lies on the sea,
who killed Kamsa, who held aloft the hill and
who dug up the earth, all attributes which
cannot be interpreted as belonging to any other
than Vishnu. In 40, Vengadam is said to be
the hill of Him who was delighted with the fall
of the king of the Asuras. In stanza 68 the
God in Vengadam is addressed as one who
is in the sky, who is on the earth, who is
in the verses of the Veda along with being
in Vengadam, again referring specifically to
Vishnu alone by these attributes. Stanza 76
is even more specific. It mentions Tiruvenga^am
as the place of the one who measured the
earth. In 77, Vengadam, Vin^agar, Vehka and
Tirukkovalur are mentioned as places where
the God stood, sat, lay or walked, necessarily
meaning that the four manifestations are one
and the same. In 82 there is a more definite

TIRUPATI AND TSE EARLY ALVARS

reference to the festival on the 12th day of
the fortnight (DvadaSi), when, on account of the
large quantity of smoke from the burning of the
incense by ladies, the very sky itself got so
clouded that the stars became invisible. While
the mention of this festival may be interesting
in itself for the history of Tirupati, it does not
make it in terms, quite clear that the deity is
Vishnu. The mention of Dvadasi makes it
certain as that day is peculiarly holy to Vishnu
according to the Agamas. Stanza 99, the last
of the first centum speaks of the deity in
Vengadam as the one who is in the floods,
undoubtedly referring to Vishnu.

Stanza 25 of the second centum refers to the
deity in Vengadam as one who marched upon
Lanka and killed Havana. Stanza 33 contains a
general reference. The reference in 45 may
also perhaps be regarded as quite general. But
46 is definite, inasmuch as the deity in Vengadam
is said to be the deity in Srirangam, in
Tirukkottiyur, and in Tirumrmalai. The reference
in 48 is indirect inasmuch as it says the hill
surrounded by deep dense groves, which the
commentators interpret as Tirupati; but the
actual terms of reference would indicate
Tirumalirumsolai near Madura. The deity is of
course specifically referred to by clear allusions

StSTORT OF

as being Vishnu. In stanzas 53 and 54 we come
upon references to Vengadam. In the first it is
referred to as Ilam-giri, and is equated with
Vengadam in the 4th line. In the next stanza
the Alvar refers to Tirumalirumsolai and
Vengadam as the two places where the God was
pleased to stand, naturally therefore meaning
that the deity in the two places ought to be
regarded as the same, and ends the verse with
the exhortation u Do not therefore give up Ilam-
koil (temple of the youth). " This Ilam-giri and
Ilam-koil were taken to refer to Subrahmanya,
who undoubtedly is referred to as a youth ;
and, if we could take these terms out of their
context and interpret them independently, it
may be capable of that interpretation. But in the
context that interpretation could hardly be held
to be admissible. Stanza 72 contains a nrere
general reference to Vengadam, and so stanza 75.

Coming to the third centum we note that
there are a far larger number of references to
the shrine, and this Alvar gives more specific
details which would put this question as to the
nature of the deity in Tirupati altogether beyond
all doubt. Stanza 14 makes the first reference
and starts with the attraction of the feet of
Vishnu to his mind, and refers to the God in
Vengadam as the one in the Veda of the four

F1RUPATI AND ?HE EARLY

flections, whose feet are marked by the crowns
of the Gods themselves. The next reference in
stanza 26 where Vengadam is mentioned amidst
a number of other places including his own heart,
where God is resident, in all other cases Vishnu,
and therefore also in Venga<Jam. So in stanza
30 where Vengadam figures along with the sea,
the sky, Kudandai, Padaham, Ananta, the great
serpent, and the garland of basil. Similarly in
stanza 32 some of these very places happen to be
mentioned, and in addition the ocean of sciences
(Nul-Kadal), and the lotus of very fine thread,
and the hearts of those devoted to him, as if to
clear the doubt definitely that the person so
present in these places including Vengadam, is
said to be the young shepherd boy who broke
the twin Kurunda tree (the young shepherd boy,
Balakrishna). In stanzas 39 and 40 Vengadam
is referred to, and the deity there is described to
be the one who measured the earth. In stanza
45 similarly Vengadam is said to be the place of
Him who, on one occasion previously, carried
the earth on his tusk. The same idea is
expressed in stanza 58, but here the God is
referred to as one who acquired the earth by
desiring to get it from Bali. In stanzas 61 and 62,
the heavenly city of Ilam-Kumaran surrounded
by flower gardens is said to be his residence,
Vengadam, and the ocean of milk, etc. So in

HISTORY OF TIRUPAfT

stanza 62 a number of holy places of the
Vaishnavas is mentioned, some of them in
heaven, and some on earth, among them
Vengadain ; but they are said to be places sacred
to Him who received the water in the out-
stretched hand, referring to the Vamanavatara
of Vishnu. Stanzas 68, 69, 70, 72 and 73, all
make references to Vengadam. In the first it is
said to be the place of the one who threw the
calf to bring down the wood-apple. The
reference in 69 is quite general, as also in the
following stanza 70. 71 makes a similar
reference to the throwing of the calf. 72 speaks
of Vengadam as a place of residence of the
prince among the youth (Ilani-Kumarar-Koman).
In stanza 73 Vada mukha Vengadam (northern
Vengadam) is the place of the one who danced
with the water-pot (one of the frolics characteris-
tic of young Krishna). In 75 Tirumalai
(Tiruvengadam) is said to be the hill of the
shepherd (Ayan). 89 clinches the whole matter
where Vengadam is described in general terms as
remarkable for its tall bushes of bamboo reaching
up to the skies as the place of the one who
whilom applied his lips to the flute emitting
sweet music.

VENGADAM AN UNDOUBTED VAISHNAVA CENTRE

OF WORSHIP. This elaborate series of references
to Vengadam in all the 300 stanzas of these

TIRUPATI AND THE EARLY ALVAR8

Alvars establishes beyond a doubt that Vengadam
was a place of great importance as a Vaishnava
centre of worship. The Alvars knew the place
sufficiently familiarly even to be acquainted with
some of the small details of worship there. That
while some stray verses may perhaps be inter-
preted as referring to oiva rather than Vishnu,
even these specific references ought properly
speaking to be explained with reference to the
context, as referring to Vishnu. But what is
really more important, the proper interpretation
of these verses that could thus be picked out
ought certainly to be in their proper context,
and no particular verse, or even particular
stanza, could be understood in full significance
unless each is taken in full association with the
whole work. Thus interpreted, it is clear
beyond a doubt that, to these Alvars, Tirupati
was pre-eminently the shrine of Vishmi, and they
tendered their worship at that shrine as an
important shrine of Vishnu and none other than
Vishiju.

CHAPTER IV.

T1RUPATI IN SILAPPADHIKARAM.
CONFIRMATION FROM THE SILAPPADHIKARAM.

This position of the Alvars finds unlooked for
confirmation which puts it altogether beyond
any doubt. The Tamil classic £ilappadhikaram,
the author of which is not a Brahmanical Hindu,
whether he be a Jain or Buddhist, was still
enough of an Indian man of learning to make
impartially respectful statements in regard to
faiths even other than his own ; nay, even those
to which he may by conviction be expected
to be opposed. References in his work to
Tirupati as a Vishnu shrine puts the whole
position beyond any doubt, all cavilling to the
contrary by modern scholars notwithstanding.
These seem after all to follow in the footsteps
of their predecessors of old who set up a
similar claim during the period of influence of
Ramanuja's mission. We shall revert to this
subject later and will have to deal with it rather
elaborately. Suffice it here to say that Ilango-
Adigal, the author of the Silappadhikaram
has no doubt whatever that the deity which
stands on the hill of Tirupati is no other than
Vishnu. He describes Venkatesa on the hill

TIRUPATI IN SILAPPADHIKARAM

in the following terms in Book XI, lines
41 to 51 *:—

High on Vengadam's towering crest, with
flowing streams in flood,

Betwixt the effulgent glory, of shining Sun
and Moon,

Like unto a blue cloud in lightning dresst
In all the brilliance of rainbow dight,
The Red-eyed great One, majestic stands

In dress of flowery brilliance with garland
bright,

One lotus hand with fearsome disc adorned,
and milk white conch (the other held.)

The passage occurs in a context which
leaves little doubt as to the knowledge of the
author of what he thus describes. This
description is piit into the mouth of a Brahman
pilgrim, a native-resident of the village of

<aSlffl<siT

QLDS tSeargi Qunsvu
urrev

Qurrevu*
Q&twsQcBjru^GiuiT erf) carp e

97
18

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

Mangadu in Malainadu (Malayalam or Malabar).
Prompted by a feeling to pay worship at the
great Vishnu shrines of Srlrangam and Tirupati,
he was on his journey coming across the Pan^ya
country, and staying for the night in the outer
groves of the Chola capital at the time, Uyaiyur.
To that self-same grove also went the hero of
the epic, Kovalan with his wife, and the Jain
ascetic Kaundi A^igal, whom he picked up near
Mayavaram on his way from Kaverippum-
pattinam. He was going forward to Madura
to set up as a merchant there, and recover his
lost fortune, which he squandered away in a life
of youthful dalliance with the bewitchingly
beautiful courtesan Madhavi in the Choja
capital, his own native city, all the accumulated
wealth which was given to him by his father,
who was a great merchant (Ma-Sattu-vaxjiigan ;
Sans : Maha-Sartha Vaha) of the place, for
setting him up in life. Disgusted with this
mismanagement, and, feeling guilty of having
neglected his own good wife who would not stay
behind when he wanted to launch out into the
world as a merchant to gain back his wealth, he
travelled on to Madura and came as far as
Uraiyfir in his journey without incident. There
were more than one route between UyaiySr and
Madura, and these roads were in those days, no
less in these, by no means particularly safe for

PIRUPATI IN SILAPPADH1KARAM

pilgrims travelling by the ordinary roadway.
When he was naturally looking out for some
one who could enlighten him as to the particular
road to take, he heard a Brahman who was
resting for the night, not far from him, get up
early in the morning and launch out into a
eulogy of the Pandyan ruler for the time being
across whose territory he travelled before
reaching Uf aiyur, and came to the end of the first
stage of his journey and into the outskirts of the
actual Chola capital of the time. Naturally, in
gratitude for the safe journey that he had
through a danger-infested road between Madura
and Trichinopoly, due to the efficient adminis-
tration of the Pandya ruler, he felt called
upon to sing his praise. To Kovalan's enquiry
as to who he was and why he was belauding the
ruling Pandya in those strains, the Brahman
answered that he had just passed throiigh the
Pandyan territory unscathed ; a pilgrim that he
was, to visit the famous Vishnu shrines, at
Srirangam and Vengadam, he was able to travel
in perfect safety. Since he found the most
dangeroiis roiites in that part of his journey^
he thought that it was due to the ruler of the
locality and that his praise should be loudly
sung. Kovalan naturally took advantage of the
occasion to ask him what he wanted, and, at the
end of his enquiries, determined upon the. road

BISTORY OF TIRUPATI

that he should take for his journey to Madura.
This, however, is not of interest for the moment.
The terms in which the Vishnu shrine both at
£rirangam and Timpati, and the one at Tirumal
lyumsolai, are referred to, give clear evidence
that the shrine at Tirupati had the reputation
of being a Vishnu shrine and nothing else, and
that reputation had reached so far out as the
West Coast and people there were in the habit
of going on a pilgrimage to Tirupati as they do
now as one of the holy Vaishnava centres. A
statement like that from an author who was not
himself a Vaishnava, and who makes the state-
ment no doubt in poetry, and in the course of a
romantic epic, does not invalidate the general
position that the temple at Tirupati was by
common repute a temple dedicated to Vishnu.
This confirms the conclusion to which we have
arrived by a detailed study of the three centa
of the early Alvars, Poygai, Bhutam and Pey,
from which efforts have been made, from time
to time, to draw the contrary inference by some
who took occasion to refer to this topic in the
course of their investigations. We shall next
proceed to examine what another early Alvar,
ilvar Tirumalisai (Bhaktisara, as he is called
in Sanskrit) who, for very good reasons, could
be regarded as contemporary with these early
ijvars has to say of Tirupati.

100

CHAPTER V.

T1RUPATI IN T1RUMALISAI ALVAR'S WORKS.

TIRUMALISAI ALVAR, HIS LIFE AND TIME.

Tirumalisai is said to have been a foundling
child taken up and brought up as his own by
a cane-worker by profession, and as such belong-
ing to a class in the Hindu social order below
the recognised four. The tradition recorded
however is that he was actually the son of Rishi
Bhargava and his wife, born as a result of a
great sacrifice (Yaga) that they performed, and,
having been born too early and in an unformed
condition, the foetus was left in a cane bush and
discovered by the cane-cutter. Possibly this was
invented to give him a higher birth. We can
say this, with some little assurance as he himself
states in the course of one of his works, that
he had not the good fortune to be born in one
of the four recognised castes (kulam) of Hindu
society. Whatever it is, the truth seems to be
that he was a person of unknown birth like
the other three JLlvars, possibly belonging to
one of the classes outside the recognised four.
But somehow he had gained intuition, perhaps
from birth, to know the truth better, and, like
the three others that we have already spoken of,
lived not merely to discover, but even to expound

101

OF TIRUPATt

the truth to the world. The same tradition
associates his name with the village Tirumalisai
near Poonamallee, a few miles to the west
of Madras from which he takes his name,
Tirumalisai Alvar. Of course, what is known
of him is, as tradition records it, miraculous and
superhuman, possibly because of ignorance of
his life, or, it may be, that he exhibited some
extraordinary features as a man. We get from
his works however, a few details of a biographical
character, such as the one mentioned above in
respect of his caste, which give us perhaps all
the historical information regarding him that
we can really depend upon. Leaving aside
therefore the legendary, we might take it that he
was apparently one very greatly devoted to
Vishnu, and had attained to that extraordinary
devotion, not altogether by mere instinct alone,
but really by an elaborate study and search
which ultimately led him to reject all contempo-
rary persuasions and pin his faith to Vishnu
as the sole saviour. He says, in the course
of one of his works *, that the " ^ramanas are
ignorant men, while the Bauddhas are under
a delusion; while those that have fallen into

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tiGO&fasr LDK $ su'tfarr

6DT«LlCp ff UUff p GO IT 6$6BT g» .

NSnmukhan Ttruvandftdi, 6.

TIRUPAT1 AND TIRVMALI8A1 ALVAR

devotion to Siva are of comparatively inferior
intellect. Those who will not worship the fragrant
feet of Vishnu are indeed inferior people. " This
is put in another form in the traditional account
in a fugitive verse, where the Alvar himself
is made to say " We learnt the Sankhya,
we learnt the teaching of the Jina ; we learnt
the Agamas taught by Sankara ; but as good
luck would have it, we have resolved to devote
ourselves to Vishnu of the dark colour and
the red eye, and thus put ourselves beyond
harm's reach. There is nothing therefore that
is impossible for us * ". That apart, he is said
to have spent a considerable part of his time
in the village of his birth where he met the
first three Alvars on their usual round of
pilgrimage. Coming near to this place, they
are said to have discovered a column of light
and approaching to where it emanated from,
they enquired, almost by intuition, whether the
holy one in contemplation was well, without
seeing him. He is said to have replied in turn,
similarly without seeing the others, whether the
three, mentioning them by name, were keeping
well and going round their pious work of life

108

HISTORY OF TIRUPAT1

quite happily. When this casual meeting struck
up a friendship between them, it lasted on to
the end of their time. Some time after they
left, this Alvar himself left on a pilgrimage and
went to Vehka in Kanchi, the birthplace of
Poygai Alvar and there he remained for a
long time devoting himself to the Grod of the
locality and residing on the banks of the holy
tank in which was born the Alvar of that
name, the first of the Alvars. Here he came
into contact with a Sudra by name Kanikannan,
who is said, in the traditional account, to have
been born of parents who fed the Alvar with
milk when he was still a baby. He was in
the service of a Pallava King of Kanchi, but
was offering devoted service to the JLlvar
nevertheless. A woman servant of the palace,
old and poor, used to be rendering some menial
service to this Alvar, such as cleaning up his
place of residence, etc., and, in response to her
request, the Alvar blessed her with perpetual
youth and beauty. She became thenceforward
an object of attraction to the monarch. In
answer to his enquiry as to how she obtained
that unfading beauty, she replied that she was
indebted to it to the grace of the Alvar, and
offered the information that through his servant,
Kanikannan who was a favourite of the Alvar, he
could get at him if he so desired. The Pallava

104

TIRUPATI AND T1RUMALISAI ALVA.R

King, as became his position, asked Kanikannan
to bring the Alvar to his court, and got the
surprisingly decisive reply that the Alvar would
not vouchsafe to go down to see him, and he could
not take the responsibility of persuading him to
do so. In a fit of anger, the monarch ordered
Kanikannan out of his territory if he would not
do the behests of his sovereign. Naturally
Kanikannan went and told the Alvar that he had
to leave the place under orders, and the Alvar
determined forthwith to follow his friend ; not
only that, but he told the God to follow him, and
they all left. This strange phenomenon brought
the Pallava King to a humbler frame of mind,
and, as a result of his earnest entreaty, the
whole party returned after remaining one night
at a particular place some distance away, which
thereafter got the name the " place of one night's
stay ". Thenceforward the King treated the
Alvar with the greatest respect, and the place
where he lived, and the deity there, became
cherished objects of worship for the monarch.
After remaining there for a considerably long
time, the Alvar went on a tour of pilgrimage to
the south passing through Chidambaram on his
way to Kumbhakonam. In Chidambaram there
occurred an incident of some importance As he
was going through a Brahman quarter of the
place on a particular morning, the Brahmans

106
14

HISTORY OF TIRUPAT1

who were engaged in reciting the Veda in the
course of celebrating a sacrifice, stopped the
chant and fell into silence, as soon as he entered
the hall of sacrifice in the belief that he was
of a caste within whose hearing the Veda should
not be chanted. Unfortunately however, when
they had come to know that he was a great
devotee of Vishnu, they wanted to resume their
Vedic chant, but forgot where exactly they
left. The £lvar understood their difficulty ; but
without giving the passage by word of mouth,
which one of his birth should not do, showed by
sign, by splitting with his finger-nail the husk
on a grain of paddy, the particular passage last
recited. The Brahmans were able to resume
their chanting and proceed. Some time later
some of the people in the assembly did not
show themselves to be quite inclined to accept
him for the great devotee of Vishnu that he
was. To demonstrate to them that he was one
who had realised Vishnu actually, he asked the
God to whom he was devoted exclusively, to
show himself, to the unbelieving antagonists of
his, just as he was always housed in his own
heart. On seeing this they regretted the error
of their ways and accepted him as one very
near indeed to God. Then he passed on to
Kumbhakojjam and to various other holy places,

106

T1RUPATI AND TIRUMALISAI ALVAtt

and passed away at the end of a fabulously
long life.

This recital of the details of his life perhaps
is of some little value as the one detail regarding
his contemporary monarch of Kanchi may
possibly lead us to locate him in point of time.
The details given of this ruler are nothing very
specific, and all that is said is, that, under this
ruler, the Vishnu shrine at Vehka, now-a-days
called generally Yadokta-kari (he who did as
he was told) was in existence. In the poem,
obviously composed to celebrate the Tondaman
llam Tiraiyan, ruler of Kanchi, Kanchi is found
to be described in general terms as a place
where people of all persuasions found objects of
worship which to them were holy, refers only
to the shrine at Vehka * specifically in some
little detail without the possibility of being
mistaken. This would raise the presumption
whether this Alvar was not contemporary with
llam Tiraiyan of Kanchi. According to another
version of the tradition of his life, he is said
to have been one who had studied the various
systems of religion current, and, in the course
of his study he was at one stage of his life an

LDtfU/f

II. 410-11.
107

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

ardent Saiva (worshipper of Siva) and a man
of great ability. Pey JLlvar is supposed to
have met him in controversy, weaned him out of
that faith and led him ultimately to become
a Vaishnava. There is no specific reference
that we know of for the present to confirm this
tradition from his works ; but the general trend
of these may go some way to make the change
possible. Neglecting the details of the tradition,
the general drift of it seems to be that this Xjvar
was contemporary with the other three, belonged
to a locality not far from Kanchi, and was
contemporary with the Pallava monarch who
may be identical with the Pallava Ilam Tiraiyan
of Kanchi. Of his works included in the
Prabandham there are just two, the one a centum
like that of each of the three earlier Alvars
named Nanmukhan Tiruvandadi, and another a
little over a hundred (actually 120 stanzas)
called Tiruchanda-viruttam. These are the only
two works of the Alvar which we shall have to
discuss.

THE ALVAR'S CONVICTION. Like the other three
5.Jvars we have already dealt with, this one is
also ' similarly devoted to worship of Vishiju as
the sole saviour. It may also be stated that this
Slvar is not only of this conviction like the other
three,- but quite fanatically so. The three early

108

T1RUPAT1 AND TlRUMALISAl ALVAR

5lvars would show a tolerance of the worship of
others, such as Brahma, Siva, Indra prominently
mentioned. This one went the length of saying
positively that he would not, as stanza 66 shows
clearly*. He states categorically "Now my
heart is the permanent abode of Him who,
for a long time before, had for his place of
residence the serpent couch. I affirm that
I would not place, along with him, oiva who
wears the crescent moon on his head, nor
Brahma (Ayan) ; nor would I offer them service
and go round them rightwise as a worshipper."
This is a clear and unmistakable statement of
his sole and exclusive faith in the saving grace
of Vishnu and of none other. Numbers of other
stanzas from this centum itself could be pointed
out indicating this conviction, but in a much
less aggressive form. He is as thoroughly
convinced as the others, in fact as the 5lvars
generally are, that the power to save in others
is comparatively less efficient and is always
governed by the consideration that the supreme
Saviour really is Vishnu. He states this idea
equally clearly in stanza 26 where he states it

Nanmukhan TiruvandOdi, 66.
109

titSfORT OF TIRUPATt

broadly that " for my not having anybody else
to worship than Vishnu, £iva of matted locks
is witness. * " We have already referred above
to stanza 6 where he speaks of the people of
other persuasions as pursuing faiths of inferior
efficacy, and mentions among them Jains,
Buddhists and Saivas particularly. In stanzas
14 and 15 he states his faith with equal emphasis
" Narayana is my Lord. Narayana is He that
guards against my going to hell. It is strange
that there should be people who, without
reciting His name, are deluded in believing the
false teachings of others " (stanza 14). " Those
who are able to worship Vishnu by placing
flowers at his feet worshipped by the very Gods
themselves, would have the same saving benefit
that Markandeya has had by worshipping the
blue-throated oiva, " referring to Markandeya's
escaping death without gaining the eternal life.
In stanza 17 he states unmistakably that Siva
himself, as Dakshinamurti, taught the four Rishis
his pupils that he offered his worship to Him
who measured the earth and slept on the
baniyan leaf floating on the primeval waters,

&r sifts ««wri_ rnb — 6rp
semi— IT ib sL-Aojeoorg
safer® Q&trnrQpOLDiT gy.

NSnmukhan Tiruvandftdi, 26.
110

TIBUPATI AND T1RUMALISA1 ALVAS

that is, Vishnu. A number more of stanzas of
similar sentiment could be quoted with various
illustrations taken from Indian religious litera-
ture. He completes the centum with the following
statement in stanza 96. * "I have learnt, for all
time hereafter. You are my Lord, You are the
God of Siva and the four-faced Brahma. I have
learnt, for all time, that You are the cause of
everything. You are the ultimate object of all
learning, past and present. You are the good
deed. You are Narayana. I have learnt this very
well indeed," as summing up his own conviction.

In what we have stated above already,
we see the clear conviction of the Alvar that
the two out of the three constituting the
Hindu Trinity form a part of the supreme
One Narayana. He starts the centum there-
fore with a series of statements that Narayana
created the four-faced Brahma ; that the four-
faced one created Sankara with the same
number of faces as himself. This profound
truth he let the world know by means of this
Andddi (series of verses linked up by taking
one word of the last line to begin the following

if spumed if ns
oor if sear &]&&&&€& nsireor

Nanmukhan Tiruvandadi, 96.
Ill

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

verse). He follows this statement by more
clearly stating the supremacy of Vishnu as the
Saviour. * " On consideration, they (wise ones)
say that there is but one Grod ; that no one
knows the extent of his greatness; that that is
the ultimate end of all thought ; that the saving
grace for all who devote themselves to doing
penance ; is to be found only in Him who bears
the disc (Vishnu) ". In stanza 4 he clearly
states that Siva who hides in his matted locks
Ganga (Granges) and the king of the Gods alike
form part of his body, f In stanzas 42 and 43
he states in clear terms that both Brahma and
Siva were among the worshippers of Vengadam.
In 54 comes in the general statement J that He
shows himself as Grods, and, among them, the

Nanmukhan Tiruvandadi, 21.

&iTiB0rT6br ^/ ami— trG strew 06srG^S)(8i})

Nanmukhan Tiruvandadi, 4.

QpeuffirtL tip^u ^

<SFQDL_.

ibid, 54.
112

TIRUPAT1 AND TIRUMALISAI ALVAR

three prominent ones ; and all the others who exist
are the great Vishnu himself. Those who do
not hold this conviction make all their learning
useless. In 73 again is a clear statement " Who
can understand the greatness of Him, who
swallowed the whole earth and threw it up again,
of the great disc. That supreme body of His,
neither the blue-throated oiva nor the eight-eyed
Brahma have seen ". In 75 he states clearly,
although the occasion is not altogether obvious,
that Siva of matted locks worshipped him with
flowers to the best of his ability, and did not
attain to Vishnu's grace nevertheless. This
should be enough to convince one that his
devotion to Vishnu was such that he considered
it that Vishnu alone was the Supreme Being and
the fountain source of all grace and nobody else,
and that other Gods worshipped by votaries of
other persuasions were but following worship of
beings inferior to Him.

Coming next to this Alvar's references to
Vengadam, there are certainly a number of
references in this centum. The first reference
is in stanza 31. It is a bare reference to
Vengadam along with the other Vaishnava place
Kottiyur. There is a simple reference in stanza
39. There is a specific reference in 40 where it
says that he was devoted to the God at

113
15

HISTORY OF TIRUPAT1

Vengadam, who was constantly in his thought ; *
" He is the beloved of Her who is described
and quite extolled in the sciences, and I am
inextricably caught in the net which is His feet ".
There is a very interesting reference in 41 where
he refers again to the holy One at Vengadam
, having Entered his mind by being in residence
at Vengadam. f In describing this hill at
Vengadam there are two points that are brought
out. The first is the mountain streams running
down scattering pearls. By implication there is
also the rattle of the running stream. Another
kind of sound that is referred to as the normal
feature of Vengadam is the sound that arises
from the celebration of the festivals on Onam
(Sans. £ravana) days. This asterism is of course
sacred to Vishnu, and is, in some form, attached
to Vishnu as almost the asterism of his birth
(one that has no birth). But the festival on this

Nanmukhan TiruvandOdi, 40.

sir

114

<
to
Id

flC
t/)

X
H

TIRUPATI AND TIRUMALISAI ALVAR

asterism is, in some respects, peculiar to
Tirupati, and is also usual in shrines where the
deity installed is £rmivasa, the abode of the
Goddess Lakshmi, which is the ordinary familiar
name of the God at Tirupati. The most sacred
day in the year at Tirupati is this £rava$a in
the month of Purva-Bhadra. The next stanza *
has reference to Vengadam also where the
Alvar exhorts people to go and offer worship
at Vengadam as it permanently destroys the
evils of Karma, and offers as inducement that
the lotus-born Brahma and the three-eyed £iva
alike placed lotus flowers at the feet of the
God at Tirupati and worshipped Him. The
next following stanza has a similar reference
to the worship offered by the same two Gods.
Stanza 44 is particularly interesting, as, in
making a reference to Vengadam, he exhorts
younger people particularly to go and offer
worship at Vengadam. " Where stands the
young one (prince, Kumara), who of old counted
up the heads of the Rakshasa, being a child
in the lap of Brahma, whose beneficence the
Rakshasa sought (by penance). " This is an

) d?/f<abu>uj/r«w —

42.
115

SlSfORY OF TIRUPATI

allusion to Vishnu who assumed the form of a

baby and placed himself in the lap of Brahma

just on the eve of his granting the boon prayed

for by Ravana after he had performed the

severest penance. There is a similar reference

to this incident in stanza 45 of the centum of

Poygai Alvar and in stanza 77 of Pey Slvar.

I have not been able to discover the Puranic

authority for this incident which is likely to be

found in some one or other of the various

sources of that kind of information. But the

point that should be specially noted in regard

to this incident is that the Grod standing in

Tirupati is described by the term Kumaran

(Sans. Kumara), which was taken to mean

Balasubrahmanya exclusively, and to support

the theory that the Tirupati shrine was a

Subrahmanya shrine. This reference puts that

out quite unmistakably, as also several others

we have quoted from Pey ilvar. The next

following stanza 45 has a reference to Vengadam

also of the ordinary kind. The next three

stanzas 46, 47 and 48 refer to Vengadam. The

special feature of the reference in the first

is that the Kuravar of the locality were

accustomed to surrounding the elephants for

the purpose of capturing them, a sort of an

ancient kheddah. In the next one Vengadam

is described as peculiarly famous for its

116

TIRUPATI AND TIRVMALISAI ALVAtt

trees, for its monkeys and the class of people
called Vedar (Vettuvar or the hunter class).
The next one is a little more interesting
which states broadly that Vengadam is the place
worshipped by those of heaven. Vengadam
is really the place which destroys the results of
karma. Vengadam is the place of Him who,
by the use of his disc, destroyed the Danavas,
and thus protected the heavenly hosts, making
a clear equation of the God in Vengadam
with Vishnu. The next reference to Vengadam
is in stanza 90, although the reference is
general. That is so far as this particular centum
ofthisSlvar is concerned. It comes out again
and again in the course of this work of the
Alvar that Tirupati was a place sacred to
Vishnu, and the God installed in the temple
there is Vishnu and nobody else. Mention is
made of the presence of other Gods particularly
the two Siva and Brahma as forming part of his
body, but none the less it is clearly stated that
the object of worship is Vishnu and not the
others, even to the extent of declining to offer
worship to this God if these two happened to be
really any integral part of the Supreme.

There are a few other interesting general
references which may be noted before we close
this section. We have already referred to the

117

BISTORT OF TIRUPATI

Alvar's acquaintance with, or his knowledge of,
other religions. There are two very specific
references — a few more general ones can be
quoted also — to the Grita. Stanza 50 says
specifically that " the words of Kannan who is
lying on the bank of a river " and " Mayan
who is lying asleep on the sea " " lie embedded
in my heart ". A similar sentiment is expressed
in 71 where the God is referred to as Mayan
who was the shepherd king (Ayan) of Dvaraka,
and states it roundly that all that people in the
world know is not knowledge if they do not
know " the words that this Mayan spoke on that
day ", referring undoubtedly to the Gita. In
stanza 54 he gives expression to the same
sentiment in much more general terms asserting
the supremacy of Vishnu. In stanza 60 is a
reference, where Vishnu is addressed as the
God resident in Srirangam, and is stated to
be the rare good substance to those of great
hearing (learning which is only heard, Sruti ;
compare 69.) In stanza 75 there is a definite
statement that he " would not use the tojigue
to sing the glory of man " but would " sing
only of Him, who was not pleased to accept
the prayer of even 6iva who went and offered
the highest worship to him with flowers in
the prescribed form ". Stanza 76 is much
more interesting in. .this line as it refers

118

TIRUPATI AND TIRUMALISAI ALVAR

definitely to Mann as a Sruti work (Ketta
Manu\ and then follows the term £ruti which
commentators interpret as a specific reference to
a part of the Taittiriya Samhita of the Yajur
Veda, a part of the Veda peculiarly sacred to
the Bhakti school of Pancharatra. And then
follows the four Vedas in the ordinary way of
reference to Vedas generally. All these are said
to be " the truths which in his Maya, Vishnu
taught to people. " * There is an interesting
reference in stanza 88 that those alone live that
live in constant contemplation of him who is ever
sedulous in the removal of all that gives pain
to his devotees, while the life of those who follow
the instructions of other persuasions is life
wasted. In the final stanza of the centum, f he
declares emphatically his faith in Vishnu as if
he made that discovery just then " I have now
learnt that Thou art the Grod of Siva (Isa) and

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UL.L- $ fl)L\.

Nanmukhan TiruvandSdi, 76.

t G <$ ear
BQ06or
tf sp
r $ isebrs/fiaGpebr /j/ror.

ibid, 96.
119

HISTORY OF TIRUPAT1

Brahma (Nan-mukha.) I have learnt as well
that You are my Lord. 1 have now learnt
further that You are the cause of all. You are
the end of all learning. You are certainly the
object of all learning and of all good deeds.
You are Narayana. All this I have learnt very
well indeed. "

We next pass on to the other of his works
called Tirucchanda Viruttam, a work of 120
stanzas cast in a peculiar alliterative metre
which gives it the name. In this work the Alvar
shows himself to be thoroughly acquainted with
the whole of the Vaishnava teaching for a
complete exposition of which one has to be
thoroughly acquainted with what is generally
known as oruti literature, the Vedas, Upanishads?
and accessory literature necessary for their
understanding. Then come the Puranas and the
Itihasas which are illustrative of what Sruti
literature is supposed to expound. Lastly the
teaching of the Bhagavatas called Pancharatra
which it is that gives a clear exposition of the
supremacy of Vishnu, the way of service to Him
to earn His grace, and ultimately that, for all
that one might do, His grace and nothing else
is the means to the attainment of salvation.
While his Nanmukhan Tiruvandadi, the centum
we have already discussed states in general

120

T1RUPAT1 AND T1RUMAL1SAI ALVAR

terras, like the three centa of the other three
Alvars, this teaching, this work of Tirnmalisai
seems to lay down more thoroughly his convic-
tion in regard to this particular matter, and may,
more or less, be regarded as a declaration of
faith by the Alvar, and how he came to it,
forming as such a sort of hand-book to his
Vaishnavism. Apart from the Vaishnava teach-
ing in this work, it has also some references
to Vengadam and we shall deal with these as
we have done with the others.

In the first half of this work he describes
clearly the fundamental teaching of the
Vaishnavas which makes Vishnu the supreme
deity. This, of course, he could establish only
by reference to authorities such as are recognised
by believers in the teaching of the Veda, direct
and indirect. This Alvar brings into this part
of the work, as though it were the really
orthodox teaching, the Pancharatraic notions,
the really peculiar ones, of the Vyuhas, Vibhava,
etc., as is clear in stanza 17 ;* " Thou art of
one form. Thou art of three forms. Thou art
likewise of four forms. Thou art again of

erenreaafiG)

airs Qpir&fS fuJcariDiTUJ rEeufEisi—ei) QL^IE^ QLDGV
<$« Qprrpfdiutnu ojsooreoaru) GTeorQprrweviTJd GpeuGeor. (17)

121
16

BISTORT OF TIRVPAT1

various forms for the enjoyment (by worship) of
people ; Thou art of forms suitable to the good
that people may have done (in this or in previous
births). Thou art thus of forms innumerable.
Oh, the First one (God), how is it that Thou hast
become the First one of different forms according
to the wishes of your worshippers, having been
abed on the great serpent in the great ocean ? ".
The doctrines of the Pancharatra are so inextri-
cably mixed up in the works of these Alvars that
it would be a matter of very considerable
difficulty to separate these as distinctive of the
PSncharZtr&ic teaching. None the less, they
are very clear to those who have primed
themselves with the necessary introductory
preparation. Further he shows, in the course
of the work, that he is acquainted with the
teaching of the Saiva 5.gamas, and is well posted
in the details of the Pauranic teaching of
Hinduism. It is really this kind of a synthesis
that perhaps transformed the Vedic Brahmanism
of old into the Hinduism, as we sometimes
distinguish the one from the other. This is
not the place nor the occasion to deal with that
general question. It should be enough here to
state it broadly that the so-called Pancharatraic
teaching is not quite so recent as is often times
asserted — nay it would be more justifiable to
regard it as a teaching running concurrently

128

TIRVPATI AND T1RUMALISAI ALVAR

with the Brahmanical teaching of sacrifices as
the means to ultimate salvation. Much that is
actually taught in the Grlta is scattered through
the works of this A) var, who mentions the work
in unmistakable terms, as also in those of the
other Alvars, recognising the threefold path to
salvation by Karma (deeds or works), Gnana
(true knowledge) and Bhakti (devotion and
service). This Alvar comes to the conclusion
that these recognised means, in the last resort,
have to depend entirely upon His grace for
receiving their fulfilment. In other words one
can never attain to salvation whatever his
position in regard to works, knowledge or
service, unless he had served to gain the grace
of the Supreme. Again and again the Alvar
repeats in the work that he was not entitled to
adopt the recognised method of Vaidic practices
for the attainment of salvation ; but that he
could hope to achieve salvation only by earning
His grace efficaciously. There are services of
various kinds laid down as part of Agamaic
teaching and expounded in the charya (service)
chapters of these works, offering devoted service
and worship to Grod, imaged in various forms
and placed in particular localities with a view
to worship and service offered therein in various
Ways. The orthodox way of worship involves
knowledge of the Veda and performance of

123

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

certain Vaidic ceremonies for which every one
is not competent. To those who cannot attain
to salvation by that means, other kinds of
service are indicated as equally efficacious,
namely, services rendered to bring about this
worship by building temples, providing the
means and making the necessary arrangements
for conducting this worship properly, both for
the benefit of those that worship and for the
much larger body of people who are not able
to conduct that worship for themselves. Such
as could really render service of various kinds,
even of a manual character, and such services
rendered with sincere devotion, entitle one to
salvation almost in the same way as the service
rendered by those who are learned in the Veda
and could render service in the recognised
orthodox fashion.

Having arrived at this conviction, the Alvar
proceeds to expound it through this work of
120 stanzas, in a systematic form. He expounds
the general principles of the faith in which is
comprised the whole of the Pancharatraic
teaching in the first section which may go down
to almost the first third of the work. The actual
P^tkcharStrSic doctrines plainly come in stanza
U ^already referred to in detail above, and that
id enforced in stanza 29, not altogether in the

124

TIRUPAT1 AND TIRUMAL1SAI ALVAR

same detail, but none the less unmistakably.
This is repeated in stanzas 31 and 34 as well.
After having expounded clearly the conception
of the Supreme, in accordance with the teaching
of the orthodox Vaidic literature as well as the
Agamaic, he proceeds to consider in the next
part of the work as to what actually should be
done by those who had not the means by birth,
capacity and qualifications to understand His
inscrutable nature by the methods open to the
enlightened. He lays down clearly that the
orthodox and complicated way of propitiation
by the highly enlightened is impossible for
others ; but there are ways of offering worship
open to them wrhich would be quite as efficacious
to attain the ultimate object. This is the path
of service, service rendered in various ways.
In this section the worship of Grod in the various
forms in which he is installed for worship in
temples is next indicated as easily as possible,
provided one is determined to pursue the path
with sincerity and devotion. Having laid down
this general principle, he describes in a number
of stanzas his devotion to the image in the
temples at Srirangam, at Kumbhakonam and in
Conjeevaram, all dedicated to Vishnu, pointing
out, inter alia here and there, that that is a kind
of service that even Grods like Brahma and
Diva have had to render to the Supreme in order

125

HISTORY OF TIRUPAT1

to obtain the very power for the discharge of
their respective functions even. Then he points
out that, so long as one pursues this with
complete sincerity and single-minded devotion,
it would not matter who he is, he may be sure
of Grod's grace. Then he proceeds to point out
that, notwithstanding this devoted service, and
the title that one gains in consequence to His
grace, grace cannot be compelled and demanded
as a matter of right. It must come as the
outcome of the graciousness of the Supreme.
So he lays down in the last part of the work
that it is absolutely necessary for one, however
sincere and devoted he be in his service to God,
that he resign himself in His hands for the
final attainment of grace. It is here that he
takes occasion to point out that he had not had
the good fortune to be born in the four castes
(kula) nor to have had the opportunity to have
studied the Veda and accessory literature, nor
had he practised the control of the five senses
and their activities. Thus having been driven
to the only course open to him, he confesses
that there is 110 means to gain salvation except
by single-minded worship at His sacred feet.
He makes this great confession in stanza 90*

iBtr0$$ytJD

esr Quirjj)itSG<sv6sr y
u^^QeoQesrwiSf

vrreSgyii. (9Q)

126

TIRUPATI AND T1RUMALISA1 ALVAR

of the work, and, having said that, he lays down
in the following thirty verses the greatness of
God's grace, and resignation to His will as the
natural means to salvation to all alike, stating,
in so many terms, that the safest vessel by
means of which to carry oneself across the ocean
of samsara is the sacred feet of God. In
stanzas 100 and 101 he makes the point clearer
by saying that he makes efforts to do his best to
be perpetually contemplating on His lotus feet ;
but prays that He would so regard it; and
follows it up in 103 by a further prayer to God,
whom he describes as One who carries on His
chest the Goddess Lakshmi, as the conduct
prescribed in the Rig Veda, as the one of
the colour of a heavily laden cloud, that He
might enable him to recite His name without
intermission. He conies to the conclusion at
the end of the work that " having made me
wander through various births, He has at last
come to save me by making my mind devote
itself to Him (without any delusion) as the
sole Saviour ".

Other points worthy of note in this work are
where the Alvar speaks almost contemptuously
of other Gods of repulsive appearance and of
reputation hard to reconcile with godhead, and
exhorts people to devote themselves to Vishnu

127

BISTORT OF T1RUPAT1

and destroy birth. In 72 there is a specific
reference to Lakshmi and Bhumi being His
consorts ; he also states that the lotus-born
Brahma was his son, and his son is the one the
half of whose body is Uma and whose vehicle is
the bull, and states clearly that this relationship
found described in Vedic works is certainly
not without truth. In 87 he makes a declaration
that his devotion goes to the feet of Him
exhibited in the Veda as the Supreme, who is
worshipped with conviction, arising out of
learning, by him with an eye in the face (oiva),
the king of heaven (Indra) and the Lord of the
flower (Brahma), alike. In stanza 90, he comes
to the definite statement : — " I was not born in
any one of the divisions which goes by the name
kulam (class or caste). I am not learned in the
good things which the four Vedas teach. I have
not succeeded in gaining control over the five
senses. I am still labouring in the meshes of the
passions. Notwithstanding all this, I have no
attachment but to Your holy feet". This
autobiographical detail expressed with so much
emphasis gives indication of at least an
unknown, if not an inferior birth, and therefore
his incapacity to follow the orthodox teaching
and the prescribed methods for the pursuit of
salvation. He is therefore driven to adopt other
methods, to gain the same end, open to those of

128

TIRUPATI AND TIRUMAL1SA1 ALVAR

his condition. He ultimately expounds in the
course of the work what those are, and indicates
by his own example the efficaciousness of simple
prayer by the recital of His name, provided only
one exhibits, in the performance of this simple
form of worship, unalloyed sincerity and
absolutely exclusive devotion to the Supreme
God. He is convinced, not without investigation
of the prevalent alternatives, that throwing
himself upon God's mercy is the surest way to
the attainment of His grace provided the path
is pursued with whole-hearted devotion.

This elaborate study of these early Alvars
gives us an insight into the condition of religion
at the time that these flourished. We see from
the works of these alone that the religion of
worship and service to God, in some one form or
another with a view to the attainment of His
grace, is regarded as the most efficacious method
of gaining the most cherished of human ends,
the destruction of birth, growth, decay and
death ; all that is included in samsara. As far
as these Xlvars are concerned however, the only
deity capable of showing this saving grace is
Vishnu, and the other deities who had perhaps a
certain amount of following at the time, were of
inferior capacity for this particular purpose.
Coming down to the actual exercise of thin

189
17

HISTORY OF TIEVPATI

devotion, we find that the methods prescribed as
validly efficacious are those of service essentially,
service by means of Vedic learning and Vedic
rites, we might almost say primarily. Where
this is found to be impossible, as in the case of
the great majority of people, except in the case
of the very elite, service of a simpler kind is
recommended, and even this service may take a
large variety of forms according to capacity and
means. The best in the last resort, and well
within the capacity of all, is the mere recital of
the name of the deity ; but the essence of the
service of worship thus rendered is in the
sincerity and single-mindedness of the devotion
shown in the performance of the service. It
would not matter what form of service devotion
takes, salvation is certain ; but not as the
inevitable return for the service, but as a matter
of grace by the deity, pleased with the devoted
service rendered to him. This is what in
Vaish^ava parlance is called prapatti resigna-
tion or surrender into the hands of the deity,
placing oneself in the position of being deserving
of His grace. If the details of this norm of
worship found scattered through the works of
these Alvars could be collected together and
examined as a whole, it will be found that that
is almost in every detail the teaching of the
Va&hgava Igamas, called Pancharatra, which,

180

PIRUPATI AND TIRUMALISAI ALVAR

in times much before this, was known as. the
teaching of the Bhagavatas. These Bhagavatas
were a set of people who regarded Bhagavan
Vasudeva (Krishna) as the sole Supreme, being
capable of exercising His grace and giving
salvation to people. They did not consider it
necessary to sacrifice animals in the performance
of Yagnas (the great sacrifices), and would
preach the doctrine of Ahimsa in consequence.
That teaching runs through and through the
works of these Alvars, so that what was merely
the persuasion of a section of the people had
become gradually transformed into one of general
efficacy for all alike, though the prescribed
method might vary in detail according to
capacity.

The teaching of the Gita is constantly there
in addition to this, as well as what is sometimes
described as Pauranic Hinduism, a distinction
which it . would be rather difficult to justify
and almost impossible to make. So then with
these Alvars, we seem to be living in an age
when modern Hinduism, as distinct from the
Vedic Brahmanism which alone is generally
taken to be described in the Vedas and_ Vedic
literature, had gained great vogue. It would-be
Brueh .better .to .regard these two not IA cpnti^r
distinction, but. more., or. less #s_ jtwQ, phases ey

181

BISTORT OF TIRUPAT1

aspects of the same teaching, the only difference
being a difference of emphasis.

The norms of worship being thus laid down,
it follows, as night follows day, that the most
popular feature of worship is the worship of
forms of God visible to the eye, and under-
standable to the average intelligence of
uncultured humanity. Abstract conceptions are
brought down to definite forms perceivable by
the senses and appealing even to the physical
eyes, although in origin subjective. Worship of
images, originally conceived in the mind and
actually translated into material forms for
congregational worship, comes to be the essence
of general religious service. Worship of images
or forms of Gods of various kinds, in temples, the
undertaking of pilgrimages to these, devotional
service of various kinds, material and personal
in respect of these, all became part and parcel
of this form of religion. We see this in full
swing in the works of these Alvars. It is not
only Tirupati or Vengadam that figures in the
works of these Alvars specifically ; but a fairly
large number of other places of repute as places
of pilgrimage sacred to Vishnu, are also
mentioned. The references to Tirupati go
sometimes into circumstantial detail to indicate,
if not to describe to us in so many words, that

ISfi

TIRVPATI AND T1RUMAL1SA1 ALVAR

the course of worship prescribed and conducted
throughout the year had already attained to
some considerable vogue. A specific feature
like the worship on dvadaSi days, the festivals
of Sravana and things like that, lets us know that
the annual arrangements had already come into
practice. These, taken along with the general
statement made by a classical Tamil author like
Mamulanar, and the practice of worship of
varioiis deities in an important place like
Conjeevaram referred to by Rudraii Kannan
would give us clear indication that the age of
temple worship and worship conducted in the
manner prescribed by the Bhakti school, had
already come to prevail in full form. The
teaching of the Vaishnavism of Ramanuja seems
to be already found in full growth, if not perhaps
in all its detail, and the three different bases of
that teaching, the Vedic literature, the teaching
of the Grita and the Agamaic teaching of the
Pancharatra are all of them found in these
works as they are found in the works of
Raman uja and his predecessors. We shall now
pass on to Nammalvar, the central figure among
these Alvars.

188

CHAPTER VI.

NAMMALVAR.
NAMMALVAR AND HIS POSITION AMONG ALVARS.

We have already noted that the three Ajvars,
called Mndal Alvars by way of distinction, and
Tirumalisai Alvar who followed can be regarded
as contemporaries on the basis of the tradition
that they met with one another at Tiru VelikS
in Kanchi, and even that Pey Alvar was
responsible for reclaiming him to Vaishjjavism
from Saivism. Whatever be the value of the
tradition as such, there is enough evidence,
internal evidence in their works, for us to take
it that they cannot be regarded as far removed
from each other in point of time, the closeness of
the works going far enough to justify the
position, apart from other extraneous evidence.
It would therefore be in keeping with our present
knowledge of the state of affairs to take it. that
these four may be regarded as of one age,.. and
in a class by themselves, among the Alvars.
Next after them comes Nammalvar generally
regarded by Vaishnava tradition as the best and
the greatest of them all, and his works have
come to be regarded as quite a faithful rendering
of all that IB of value in the teaching of the

NAMMALVAR

Veda, so that the Tiruvaymoli of Naminalvar
is regarded generally as being a rendering of
the Veda in Tamil. Not only that, the very
name TiruvSymoli (Sans, Sruti) seems intended
to convey that meaning. We have high
authority, 1he authority of the Sangam literature
for vdymoli being just the rendering, and
quite a correct rendering, of what the Sans-
kritists call Sruti as distinct from perhaps
the Upanishads, although Sruti in a general
popular sense includes not only the Veda
proper, but all the literature dependent upon
the Veda and cultivated in the world as accessory
studies essential to the understanding of the
Vedic texts. The earliest Tamils seem to
have made the distinction between the Veda
proper, and the Upanishads, by calling the first
vaymoli and the second marai, which latter has
now become more or less the popular name for
all that is included in what might be called
Vedic literature. That distinction between
o&ymoli and marai seems to have been real
enough down to the time of Tirumangai Alvar
in the middle of the 8th century, as some
references in his work could be quoted to
justify the position. The term Tiruvaymoli
therefore would be an exact Tamil rendering of
an expression like Sri Sruti, Sruti of course,
with the complimentary attribute Sri. Speaking

185

BISTORT OF TIRVPATI

from the point of view of pure literature,
Nammalvar may be regarded as a transition as
it were between the first Alvars, including in
that designation the first four and the later ones
down to Tirumangai 5lvar. The first three
Alvars have cast their poems in the veyba
metre in Tamil, and where the classical
commentators on even the Tolkappiyam quoted
Poygai Xlvar, all the stanzas quoted against
that name happen to be in the venba metre.
Among them two are from the first Tiruvandadi
of this Alvar. In respect of the fourth, however,
there are 200 verses in the Prabhandha Four
Thousand ascribed to him. The first 100 is in
the venbZ metre, like the works of the first
three, and is as a matter of fact included in that
section of the collection. In regard to the
other centum which is really 120 stanzas, it is
in the vritta metre, itself called Tirucchanda
Viruttam, which would simply mean poem in
vritta metre alliterative and adaptable to music.
Therefore Tirumalisai is in part with the Mudal
Sjvars holding them by one hand and
stretching out the other to come into connection
with the rest of them from this point of view.
Further, as a rule these early Alvars, who are
characterised as " Singers of Classical Tamil "

186

NAMMALVAR

by Tirumangai 5.1var, * are much more natura-
listic and objective in their description, and do
not indulge in the more or less well-developed
imaginative emotionalism of Nammalvar and the
other later Alvars. Nammalvar's Tiruvaymoli
carries this feature to perfection and has
become the model, more or less, for all later
literature of the school of Bhakti which have
developed this side to a much greater extent
even than these. While we would be justified
in saying that the Mudal Alvars show fairly
full acquaintance with Sanskrit literature,
Pauranic and other, relating* to the subject of
Bhakti, Tirumalisai Alvar goes much farther
afield in the exhibition of his knowledge of
Sanskrit literature bearing upon Bhakti, even
to the extent of exhibiting full acquaintance
with the Agamaic teaching of the Pancharatra
and of the Veda proper. Nammalvar goes much
farther and shows, in his extensive writings, a
full grasp of the teachings of the Veda as a
whole, or the Vaidic bases of Vishnu Bhakti,
that he may well be regarded an interpreter in
Tamil of the Vedic lore on the particular subject.

SV e$V//?<5l> off IT Q IT FT UU IT IT

i Qsrrco Qpifi&&

Periya Tirumoli, II, 8, 2.

187
18

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

Hence his principal works are regarded as each
one expounding a particular Veda of the four
Vedas and thus justifying the encomium
bestowed on him by later writers, such as
Kamban, " the learned one who had rendered
the Veda in Tamil ".

NAMMALVAR AND VENGADAM. Our purpose IS

not to expound the teaching of Nammalvar here,
but to indicate his position in regard to the
knowledge which he exhibits of Vengadam.
His works are, as they appear in the Prabaridha
collection in order (1) Tiruviruttam said to be
an exposition of the Rig Veda ; (2) TiruvaSiriyam
of the Yajur Veda ; (3) the Periya Tiruvandadi,
of the Atharva Veda, and the last but the best
work of his the Tiruvaymoli, of the Sama Veda.
Of these the third is in the venba metre. The
first is in the vritta metre. The second is in a
metre which may be said to be rather characte-
ristic of Tamil, and the last mostly vritta of
different varieties. He may be regarded there-
fore purely from the literary point of view to
have come in between these early 5.1vars, and
the later ones. What is really more to our
point, the references to Vengadam in the works
of this Alvar are entirely of a different character
as we shall notice. In the work Periya Tiru-
vandadi, which comes closest to the work of

133

NAMMALVAR

these early JLlvars, the references that he makes
to Tirnpati seem to be of a character similar
to those of the others. As we pass on from
them, we find him moving away more and more
into the artificiality and high convention of
Tamil literature.

We shall next proceed to the details regard-
ing his references to tiie Vishnu shrine at
Tirupati. Unlike the Mudal Alvars and even
Tirumalisai Alvar, it may be said of Nammalvar
at the outset that such references as he makes
to Tirupati are more or less of a character to
meet the requirements of the literary artist.
Like the later kalambakam writers who are
often content with the mere mention of the
name of the shrine they write about, so in the
case of this Sjvar the references are of a
subordinate character and border quite on the
mere mention of the name. He devotes one ten
of the Tiruvaymoli to Tirupati itself, and there
he says certain things which may be regarded
as something much more specific than the mere
references -adverted to above. In this case, he
makes explicit references to the great shrine at
Tirupati. There are just one or two other tens
where he does indeed refer to Tirupati, but the
references are not of this explicit character,
though they may be regarded as indubitable

199

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

references to the particular shrine. He seems
to be writing on the whole from what he had
heard of the great reputation of the shrine for
holiness, and has therefore to be regarded as
writing of that shrine, as he does of very
many others of holy reputation, without that
intimate knowledge of the place that the other
Sjlvars exhibit in regard to Tirupati. There are
actually seven references to Tirupati in the
Tiruviruttam. They are more or less of the
form of address where he apostrophizes some of
the flower gardens as being of the country of
Tirupati, or of Tirupati which has beautiful
gems all round the hill glowing in daylight.
The Tiruva§iriyam has no direct references to
Tirupati. The TiruvaSiriyam and the Periya
Tiruvandadi do not contain any direct reference
to Timpati as such, but stanza 7 of the latter
contains a reference to Lakshmi being on the
chest of Vishnu, which is the exact meaning
of the term Srmivasa, the name of the God at
Tirupati.

These three works taken together, however,
form a methodical presentation of the Alvar's
petition to the God to exhibit His saving grace.
So he begins by saying that his object was to get
rid of birth in this life of samsara, and would
appeal to Him who is ever on the look out for

140

NAMMALVAR

saving souls and who had put himself through
a number of births to the same great purpose.
The whole of the 100 stanzas are to the same
purport, and the idea is presented in all the
variety of literary form of which the Alvar shows
himself to be a perfect master. In this centum
the Alvar draws a comparison between those
who have once had attained to eternal life and
remained perpetually in the enjoyment of His
immediate presence, and the great majority
like himself still wallowing in the seemingly
inextricable mire of worldly life, and naturally
prays that he may be enabled to get rid of
the entanglements of worldly life and be enabled
to join the select company of those. Incidentally
therefore he has to describe the' great qualities
of God, the praise of which and the resigning of
oneself to His discretion, are the only means for
the attainment of emancipation. This cannot be
attained except by one's own effort, and the
opportunity is offered for him to exert himself;
and how he exercises himself to attain this end is
what is expounded in the following works of his.
In the Tiruviruttam he is made to expound as it
were what is possible of achievement in this
life, the realisation of the great qualities of the
Supreme Being and the way of knowledge to
attain to this experience. This is further
expounded in the Tiruviruttam as, in the case of

141

BISTORT OF T1RUPAT1

what relates to God, what has coine into one's
experience is something which is likely to be
very small in comparison to the infinite character
of His great qualities. It is those ideas that are
expounded in the three works. The first may be
regarded as a set of prayers offered to God with
a view to gaining His sympathy for the attain-
ment of salvation ; the next one is devoted to a
description of Grod. and how He works his purpose
on earth; and then in the third, the means by
which worldly life eonld be got rid of and the
eternal life achieved by service, knowledge and
devotion culminating in complete self-surrender
are described. The Alvar comes to this conclu-
sion in the third of these poems and this idea is
carried forward in the main work of his, the
Tiruvaymoli, that Grod has taken possession of
him, and it is He, not the Alvar himself, who
sings the verses, ascribed to him whether it be
those of the Tiruvaymoli. or the other three
works of this Alvar. The idea runs through and
through these works, as in the case of the other
Alvars, that Vishnu in any one of His forms is
the Great Supreme, and that He works His
purpose on earth in many forms. The other
Gods who come in for worship by others are no
more than certain forms or aspects of this One,
and the worship that is offered to them is no
mare than worship offered to Him, only in-

142

NAMMALVAR

directly. That is the general basal idea which
often times gets to be expressed in the course
of these poems. * Stanzas 08, 71 and 72 of the
Periya Tiruvandadi express these ideas, and
states that idea, with which we are familiar in the
first four Alvars, that, in the body of Vishnu,
£iva finds a place in His chest, and Brahma in
His navel, and the other gods in other places
so that all of them together constitute His body,
Himself being the soul infusing life into them
and making them do what they do.

The Tiruvaymoli has about 16 separate
references to Tirupati of about the same character
we referred to already in his other works. He
devotes one ten completely to Tirupati itself,
and, in one or two other tens further down in the

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ULJIT §£l6B>ff ULl

uesft

(68)

t— UJ/TCBT

(71)

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Periya Tiruvandadi.
143

mSTORY OF TIRUPATI

course of the work, he is supposed to refer to
Tirupati in particular, though Tirupati is not
specifically referred to in these tens. The same
general idea runs through and through. In this
work he works out to the full the literary form
that shows itself already in the Tiruviruttam
which has become the characteristic of the later
emotional forms of Vishnu worship all over
India, South as well as North. Love becomes
the theme, and it is the pining away of a damsel
for the company of her lover that is the form
that is most affected, although often times
maternal love, the love of the mother to the child
in all its frolics, and the sympathetic suffering of
the mother for a daughter pining away in a
lovelorn condition in various aspects, constitute
the other possible forms for this to take and find
exposition in the Tiruvaymoli in as good and full
a form as it could be found anywhere else. In
the whole range of Tamil literature, this work
forms the basis upon which is built the emotional
worship ; even such distant schools of thought as
the Grujarat school of Vaishnavism of Vallabha-
charya and the Bengal school of Chaitanya
drawing their inspiration therefrom. These
schools differ only in mere detail, and sometimes
in the local colour, but in essentials they are
absolutely nothing more than what is found in
the works of Nammalvar.

144

NAMMALVAR

The Tiruvaymoli Thousand serves for the
Ajvar to depict the progress of a soul han-
kering for that association with God which
is the lot of the emancipated elect (Nityasuri).
The work therefore begins with his giving
the fullest expression to his devotion generally,
and all the details of service by means of
which that devotion can be made manifest.
He struggles to find a way to describe Him
and His qualities in a way acceptable to
Him. This is service by prayer as it were,
when rendered properly and adequately, to
enable him to reach this goal of his ambition.
Finding that it does not effectuate immediately
in the much desired union, he tries to change
his method, and see whether he could canvass
it, not by the mere mechanical service, but by
an effort at a correct exposition by way of
knowledge, which implies the practice of Togic
concentration for acquiring that correct under-
standing. While this course gives him more
satisfaction, it still falls short of enabling him
to reach the goal, and he has recourse to the
other course, the course of Bhakti, complete
devotion, by means of love and self-surrender,
as the fitting terminal of service to
comes the feeling of realisation,
expresses his gratification that he he
achieved the end he strove so fai

146
19

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

In the course of the work therefore, all the
thousand verses are divided into ten groups,
each group containing ten stanzas, more often
eleven than ten, and thus provides a Tamil
literary classic, almost a model for this kind of
expression of high emotion in all its glorious
forms. Naturally therefore such a mode does
not admit of much of objective description, and
we fail to find, even in the references to Tirupati
as such, the references to such details even of
worship, or of festive celebration, as we
occasionally do come upon in the earlier poets
of this group. Even in the tens specially
devoted to Tirupati the Alvar does not give us
any definite knowledge of details which would
warrant the inference of his direct acquaintance
with the place, or the organisation of worship in
the temple. Nevertheless he reminds us con-
stantly that, for a true knowledge of Q-od, one
has to seek it in the Veda, " the flowering flame,
that is the four Vedas, which contain sacred
knowledge " in III, 1, 10. * The same idea
recurs in another place where he refers to the
same knowledge as " the nectar churned from

III, 3, 9.
146

NAMMALVAR

out of- the Veda cultivated by Brahmaijas ", If
3, 5. This section III is devoted entirely to
Tirupati, and the details that he gives of
Tirupati are more or less of a general character
absolutely, a description of the natural features
of the hill, In I, 3, 7, however, there is a
reference to the offer of worship with flowers,
water and the burning lamp, with which the
heavenly ones offer worship. Anything more
specific than this we do not get from him. In
III, 7, 9., the Alvar counts himself as the devoted
slave many times over of those devoted to
Vishnu, even if they should be born in a class
below the four which go by the name of kula
(caste) and lead the life of the Chandala. * Such
an idea often occurs not merely in the writings
of this Alvar, but even among those of several
others. While from this it is clear that it is
possible for inferior mortals to attain to that
correct understanding of Grod, and even of

Tiruvaymoli, III, 7, 9.

Gu®)evrTtT<5<far&Q<£(T<5ssr® eS&arQ^fT Qu^Lorreor

QUITUJ

ibid, IV, 7, 8.
U7

fflSTQRT OF TIRUPAT1

nearness to his presence, it must be borne in
mind that this should not be interpreted as any
kind of an assertion of secular equality. We
find a clear evidence of his condemnation of
the habits of this class of people in IV, 6-8 in
unmistakable terms. The actual kind of worship
he prefers is referred to again in V, 2-9, which
consists in the repetition of His name and the
praise of His qualities, and the presentation to
Him of worship in forms prescribed by the
knowing, with flowers, incense, lamps, unguants,
water and other such gifts. *

Coining down to the more general character
of his devotion, we find him stating it clearly
and unmistakably, in the ninth ten of the
third section, f that what powers of poetry he

ibid, V, 2, 9.

> Qffireo&toj&r Gsm

ibid, HI, 9, 1.

Q* fftorgfu* uLuesfievfa) (§usa>uQ®r tip pear GOT

**«a, in; 9, 5.

148

NAMMALVAR

might have, he would devote only to Him of
Tiruveiigadam and to none else. In the course
of this very ten, he points out the uselessness of
utilising this gift in praise of the rich ones
among the world, and inveighs against such an
improper use, giving one almost the idea that, in
the age in which he lived, such was largely the
prevalent practice. The definite reference to
Vallal (patron) in the 5th verse of this ten, seems
to be a clear and specific reference to this
particular feature of the Tamil poets of this age,
which may throw indirectly some light upon the
time in which he flourished.

One other detail of a similar general
character calls for notice. The 5.1var expresses
himself immensely gratified at the prevalence of
devout service to Him as in the second ten of the
fifth section. This idea recurs time and again,
and he seems almost to repeat the idea so tersely
expressed in stanza 87 of the first Tiruvandadi of
Poygai Alvar. The similarity of notion is so
great that the age was remarkable for the way
of Bhakti coming into its own, as against other
forms of religious service. A general review of
these details taken together gives the impression
that, at the time that these Slvars flourished,
Hindu society, if it should be so-called, was just
returning from other forms of worship, or

149

OiSTOJRY OF TIBtfPATl

religious service, to this particular form and
when the 5lvar actually gloats in joy over the
passing away of the Kali Yuga (age of sin) in
stanza V, 2-3, and the coming of the Krta Yuga by
the Gods themselves entering this way of service,
and that the world had become actually full of
those devoted to Vishnu * who dance in joy and
fling songs of devotion to Him, we seem to feel
a sort of re-establishment of orthodox worship
according to the school of Bhakti , the more so
when he gets to exhort, in stanza 9 following of
the same section, where he calls upon all to
come and worship at the shrine of the holy One

Qutfluu Sptysu) upfSu Qu/flGsruQeuaretrLD

urrif-

ibid, V, 2, 3.

ibid, V, 2, 9.

Qpirdseuu>ffjr @Lp(T(&<s*r ST/B^LD uffisp&r Q pn car ui.fr

etivii&QLDirGir&uSfaGiJu*

tWrf, v, a, 10.

160

NAMMALVAR

of the Veda, and save themselves by singing the
praise of Achyuta without deviating from the
course of knowledge. When he makes a positive
statement that the world had got to be full of
those who worship Him with flowers, incense,
lamps, unguants and water, those being both
men in worldly life and those that have
renounced it alike, he seems almost positively
to affirm such a reversion to orthodoxy. This
idea he elaborates somewhat in the following
stanza where he states that the world is already
full of not only the Supreme Vishnu (Kannan as
he is called here), but of the other Grods of
the Hindu pantheon, and exhorts the devoted
ones of the earth to offer similar worship to all,
and get rid of the sinful Kali Yuya.

One other feature of some importance to us
for the history of Tirupati is the notion that
runs through and through, that God is really
one, and that one is Vishnu in any one of His
innumerable aspects. Such a notion is scattered
all through his works, and, in some places, they
get to be mentioned specifically. The general
notion is that all things existing of all kinds,
merely constitute the body, the soul infusing all
being His self. In expressing this general
notion, the Alvar sometimes indulges in the
specific statement that Brahma, Siva, Indra, and

151

HISTORY OF TIEUPAT1

other Gods of high rank constitute parts of His
body. £iva is generally allotted a place on the
chest of Vishnu, and Brahina in the navel.
In this specific statement, he speaks almost
in the same terms as the earlier Alvars of
Brahma, Siva and Indra constituting each a
part of His body, a mere part of His body, much
as &ri (Lakshmi) is supposed to be, although
Nammalvar does not come down to the level of
putting these on a footing with Vishnu's weapons
like the disc and the conch. * This firm
conviction, and the description in terms alike,
have their light to shed upon the controversy
regarding Tirupati at one time, that the
representation of the deity in the shrine was
that of Siva or Skanda-Subrahmanya, and it
had to be proved that the deity represented
there is Vishnu and no other.

ibid, IV, 8, 1.

ibid, IX, 3, 10.
1S8

NAMMALVAR

The fervour of the Alvar's devotion begins,
as in ordinary cases, with prayer, intense and
devoted though that prayer be. From that it
gradually advances to contemplation, contem-
plation of the divine in various forms and in
essence, and ultimately it rises to the pitch of
being absorbed and attaining to the condition
of complete similarity, to almost the sameness
with the deity. When he works up to this
condition, the Alvar makes it clear by telling us
that the very poems in which he describes his
experiences of devotion to God are poems sung
not by him, but by the God himself within him, *
as if in His infinite mercy to the struggling soul,
He infuses his own spirit within the struggling
individual, and takes it through even composing

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ibid, X, 7, 1.

67 ear ^ pears srr GjeaBtg&u>
j/f utrL-.6S)ear seSs<str

ibid, 5.
[Compare other stanzas in this Ten as well.]

168
20

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

and singing His own praise. When this feeling
settles down in him, he realises he had then
reached the goal of his ambition, and had
become one like God himself, always in His
presence and enjoying His company for food,
water and the very air for breathing. Coming
to this mystic position, the Alvar feels he had
reached the goal of his soul's journey.

In the course of this discipline, the Alvar
gives expression to his devotion to God in all his
innumerable forms, the Vyuhas, the Vibhavas
and the Archa ; that is, the emanations of God
for various purposes, His coming down on earth
in various forms, and the various material forms
in which He is worshipped by those devoted to
Him. Naturally therefore, Rama, Krishna, and
all the well-known Avatars on the one side, and
the various images which are forms of God
enshrined in temples alike, come in for their
share of reference. * The more recondite
references to the other forms for specific
purposes are also found, if not with the same
frequency. Not only these ; but the Alvar does
actually put himself in all kinds of attitudes

Ou(uf/f (jptMiqanrL. cujnujrt

ibid, X, 5, 6.

tTAMMALVAtt

known to literature * for^expressing high emotion.
We may therefore conclude that Nammalvar
exemplifies par excellence the methods of personal
devotion to the deity with a view ultimately to
the attainment of that realisation which is the
goal of the mysticism of this school of Bhakti.

$ (TJUUfT fl)

a, x, T, «.

1*6

CHAPTER VII.

OTHER ALVARS.

THE OTHER ALVARS. Passing on from Nammalvar,
we pass on to the rest of this group, seven
in number. (1) Madhurakavi, whose work is
included in the Prabandham, consists of ten
verses expressing his indebtedness to Nammalvar
as his Guru (teacher). His personality as such
therefore gets merged in Nammalvar. Then
follow the names of (2) Kulasekhara, (3) Periya
Slvar, though his actual name is Vishnuchitta,
(4) his foster-daughter S.ndal. The tenth is
called in Tamil, Tondar Adi Podi 5lvar, or
in Sanskrit Bhaktangrirenu. Then Tiruppa^
Ajvar, called Yogivaha in Sanskrit, and lastly
Tirumangai llvar. Of these six, Nos. 10 and
11 may be disposed of at once. No. 10 is
credited with a hundred and ten verses of
the Prabandha all devoted to Ranganatha at
Srirangam. He was born not far from the place,
but lived all his life and was devoted entirely
to the deity in that shrine, and no more. The
next one- Yogivaha also belongs to a similar
category and , lus devotion is to the temjjle at
an<J none-alse. The other four have
, to their credit, and make references

OTHER ALVARS

to Tirupati. The general character of their
devotion however, was as single-minded as that
of Nammalvar ; but they have chosen somehow
or other to exhibit their unalloyed affection
to Grod, not by adopting the method of Namm-
alvar exclusively, of that intimate affection
of the young woman in love pining away for
the company of her lover. While we cannot
say that he has altogether no other relationships
giving rise to similar affection and the pain-
fulness of the deprivation of that affection, this
is the form which appealed most in his case.
But in the case, at any rate of Periya Alvar,
it is rather the affection of the parent for
the frolics of the child ; in the case of the
daughter however, it was the unalloyed love to
Ranganatha at Srirangam which terminated
only in her marriage to Him. Periya Alvar,
however has 473 verses to his credit in the
first thousand. The first ten of this is in
glorification and praise of Vishnu in general
terms. The rest are devoted to the Krish$&-
vatara of Vishnu and describe, with touching
affection and fulness of detail, the frolics of
child Krishna, and Krishna as a young lad still
engaged in the occupation of his temporary
-residence, the -cowherd village where h^ was
.being brought up without his identity being
known to his. enemy. uncle Kamsa.

id?

BISTORT OF

THE CHARACTER OF THE TIRUMOL1 OF PERIYA

ALVAR. The next following tens are devoted to
various purposes. Two or three of these give
expression to the feeling of a love-lorn damsel
pining away in her love for Krishna, and the
sorrow of the mother for the daughter who had
elected to follow the course of her affection
and abandon herself in favour of the object
of her love. The last ten of the third section
and the following tens are in various ways
intended to exhibit why one ought to devote
himself to the worship of Vishnu in various of
His manifestations. This is generally done by
choosing certain incidents in the life of one or
other of the many manifestations of Vishnu on
earth. The tenth ten of the Illrd section is a
rendering of what Hanuman said to Rama
to convince him that he had actually seen Sita,
describing various incidents of his conversation
with her to confirm the identity. The next
following sections are devoted to a conversation
between those that have realised Gk>d and others
who wished to realise Him. The next three are
devoted to Tirumalirumsolai and TirukkottiySr
to enforce the need of devotion to Him. Tlie
next following ten is instruction to those. in
worldly life to persuade them into devotion to

188

OTHER ALVARS

Him. The next ten enforces the necessity
of naming children after Him, and calling
them by such names, as one way of reminding
themselves of His presence. The next three
are devoted to the holy place of Devaprayaga
and Srirangam Then follows in the tenth ten
of section IV, his self-surrender to Q-od while
yet in active life, so that He may, in the last
moments of the Alvar's life, receive him into
His favour. In section V, the Alvar gives
expression to his feeling that God is, already
near him, and realises His immanence in Him.
He discards all those ailments to which human
beings are heir as having uo more place in
him, and ultimately gives expression, in the
last two tens, to his feeling of the immanence
of Grod in him and of the good that he derived
from Him. While giving expression therefore
to the progress of a believing soul's devotion to
Grod till it realises Grod in him, the ilvar does
make a number of references to various places
sacred to Vishnu in which he is particularly
interested. orlrangam, Tiruinalirumsolai and
Tirukkottiyur, in addition to his own native
place, orivilliputtur are his favourite places.
But there are a few references, two or three
of them, to Tirupati which he seems to have
known, at least to have heard of. He has some
references to places even in the distant north,

150

HISTORY OF T1RUPATI

as if to indicate they were places of holy
reputation to Vishnu, and therefore to be
cherished by Vaishnavas.

His section of the Tiruvaymoli specifically
named Periya Alvar Tirumoli is a very good
illustration of that section of devotional works in
which the affection that is shown by the soulful
devotee to Grod takes that form of affection
which a mother exhibits to her child in all its
various frolics of babyhood. In his case, it takes
the form of the youthful love of Krishna which
is so beautifully described in the Bhagavata.
He is certainly not oblivious of the other popular
manifestations of Vishnu in the form of Rama,
which also come in for treatment in a consider-
able part of his work. That is not all. There
are incidental references to many other of the
beneficent manifestations of Vishnu in various
forms, The references to Tirupati or Vengadam
are so far only two in the 473 stanzas of this
Ilvar's work. The only historical references
that we find in his works are a reference in two
places, Tirupallandu II, and section IV, 4, 8 to
the Purohita (high priest) of the Pandya monarch
contemporary with him by name oelvan, who
had done much for God manifesting Himself in
Tirukkottiyiir, and had been instrumental in the
bringing about of the Ilvar's visit to the Pan4ya

160

OTHER ALVARS

capital. In regard to the Pandyan himself, the
Ajvar has just two references. The first is in
IV, 2, 7 to a Nedumaran ruler of Ten-Kudal (the
southern Kiidal, another name for Madura)
carrying a death-dealing spear, as being devoted
to Tirumalirumsolai. We have certainly also
a specific reference in this Alvar's works to
the belief * that Rudra, Brahma, and Indra,
though worshipped as Gods are not capable of
granting the best of all boons that of getting
rid of births.

NACCHIYAR TIRUMOLI OF ANDAL. Next follow

143 stanzas ascribed to the lady devotee
generally known by the name Andal or Groda
(Tarn. Kodai, also periphrastically described
in Tamil, Sudikkoduttal, one that gave the
flowers that she herself wore.) She is generally
described as a foundling child, and therefore
regarded as an Avatara of Bhumi (Goddess of
Earth) herself. Periya Alvar picked her up
from his flower garden, and brought her up as
his own dear child. He had devoted himself to
the service of making garlands of flowers and
presenting them for daily service to the God in
the temple at Srivilliputtur which was his native

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Periya AlvZr Tirumoli, V, 3, 6.
161

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

place. This daughter of his who had attained to
the age of discretion, when the father was away
for his ablutions after making the garlands etc.,
ready, used to take them without being noticed,
put them on, and look before a mirror just to see
that they all fitted very well, and then place
them again as before. This was discovered
by the father one day, who, in great pain, his
disgust struggling against the affection for his
own child, refrained from presenting the flowers
to the God and remained fasting. God is said to
have appeared to him in a dream, and asked
for those very garlands as being particularly
acceptable to Him after being used by the
daughter. She grew up a young woman, and
would not marry anybody else except God
himself, and had to be, with God's approval,
taken over to orlrangam and left there in the
temple. It is said that she was miraculously
accepted by God and disappeared in His image.
Miracles apart, her poems give expression to the
feeling of a damsel grown to the age of discretion
devoting herself to God Vishnu, we might almost
say exclusively in the form of Krishna, and
enjoying herself in the contemplation of various
of the activities of young Krishna and of the
manifestations of Vishnu generally.

THE SPECIAL FEATURES OF HER WORK. The

first section of her poems consists of 30 stanzas
and, is devoted to the worship of the image

162

OTBER ALVAR8

of a goddess after early morning bath in the
first month of the year, Margali (November —
December.) That is devoted to yoiing Krishna.
The next section of ten is devoted to the worship
of Kama, the God of Love, in the month of
January, which young women of marriageable
age generally perform. In that ten there are
two references to the God at Tirupati. The next
four sections are devoted to the mischievous
frolics of Krishna destroying their houses built
in sand, and interrupting the girls at play, and
begging him to give back the garments that he
had taken away from them while they were at
bath and carried to the top of a tree, and features
of that kind. There are two or three references
to Tirupati in the conventional way in these
sections. The next following section VI is
devoted to the details of the ceremony of her
marriage with Krishna that she herself dreamt
of. The next ten is devoted to a description of
the Panchajanya conch that Vishnu carries in His
left hand as a special feature of His. Section
V11I is devoted entirely to Tirupati, and each
stanza in it does mention Tirupati. But the
references are all of them conventional as already
stated, and give us no details of a realistic
character that we find in the Mudal Alvars.
This nray be explained as being due perhaps to
her not having visited the place, and referring

188

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

to this as only a distant holy place dedicated
to Vishnu. The next section is devoted to
Tirumalirumsolai, and the next ten which
contains two references to Vengadam, devotes
itself to the description of a love-lorn damsel
describing her suffering to her companion.

The next ten follows almost the same theme,
but this time it is the mother's sorrow for the
love-sickness of the daughter. The following
section in an earnest entreaty by the love-lorn
damsel to be taken to where Krishna was, and
the next is a prayer that she might be allowed
to console herself by contact with the dress, etc.,
worn by Krishna. The last section purports
to describe her having seen the Supreme One
in Brindavanam. Here again we see the
struggle of a loving soul, this time, a young
lady, making its progress step by step to the
ultimate realisation of the object of love. Some
writers and commentators would describe it as
superhuman (ati-manusha). While the father
pursues his course like a grown up man of
mature learning and wisdom, the daughter
pursues the same course in her own characteristic
way by dedicating herself to Him in love and
realising God by that means. The hagiologists
who have laid themselves out to write the lives
of these saints locate these two ^Jvars, the

164

OTHER ALVAR8

father and daughter, by giving them a date
not far remote from the date given to Namm-
alvar. While the style of the poems ascribed
to these and the art of the poetry alike may
support the contention that they could not
be far removed from Nanimalvar, the details
that we referred to already to a contemporary
Pandya monarch woiild seem to indicate that
these should have lived some time in the seventh
century. That may be taken to be more or
less roughly the period during which they
flourished. That they were father and daughter
perhaps we can infer from stanza III, 8, 4 *
where Periya Alvar almost seems to be autobio-
graphical when he states it that " he was the
father of an only daughter whom he brought
up like Lakshmi herself and whom the red-eyed
Vishnu carried away from him as His own ".
While this is in keeping with the subject-matter
and the mode of expression of the ten, which is
that it is the wailing of the mother whose dear
daughter had abandoned her and gone away
with her lover, and comes in naturally there, it

* 9(75

Periya Almr Tirumoli, ITI, 8, 4;

HISTORY OF TIRVPATI

would still bear the inference that the Alvar is
here perhaps, not altogether unwittingly, giving
expression to a fact of history ; at any rate, this
would confirm that Pcriya Alvar and Anda] were
related in the manner generally described.

ALVAR KULASEKHARA. The next in point of time
comes Alvar Kulanekhara, the ruler of the Chera
country (Cochin and Travancore), and to whom
the hagiologists ascribe a date almost the same
as that of Pcriya Alvar, making the two some-
what older than Nammalvar. But the details
that we can gather regarding his position among
South Indian rulers of his time would give clear
indications of a later date some time in the 7th
century probably. He has 105 stanzas to his
credit included in the First Thousand of the
Prabandha Four Thousand, and this group of ten
tens goes by the specific name Perumal Tirumoli
as if to indicate the characteristic title of these
rulers of the Chera country of the Perumals in
Kulasekhara Perumal. The collection goes by
the name Penimal Tirumoli to be in keeping
more or less with the designations of the other
sections of this group, namely Periya Alvar
Tirumoli, and Nacchiyar Tirumoli of the first
two. The first three sections of the Peruma]
Tirumoli are devoted to the temple at orlrangam,
to which Kiilafiekhara was particularly devoted,

166

OTHER ALVARS

as in fact the other two go there for their
emancipation. There is nothing in these three
tens excepting an expression of his extreme
devotion which finds vent in his longing to be
there in the temple so that the dust of the feet of
those who come to worship Ranganatha in the
temple might fall on him. The first ten is a
graphic description of the image enshrined in the
temple. The second expresses the longing to be
there and enjoy the holy dust from the feet of
the other devotees, and in the third he describes
himself as something very distinct from the rest
of the world in his single-minded devotion to
Ranganatha. In these three he gives himself
titles indicative of his position among South
Indian rulers. In the tenth stanza of the second
ten, he calls himself ruler of Kolli (Quilon),
Kudal (Madura) and Koli (Uraiyiir), the Chola
capital near Trichinopoly, and in stanza 9 of the
next section he calls himself the ruler of Kongtz.*

Perumal Tirumo[i^ II, 10.

ssr

L$&0g6)dj

Ga(T65T GvQv&z&r Q&KGsresr Qfrreo

ibid, III, 10.

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

Combined this would mean that he was some sort
of an overlord of all South India, at any rate,
of Tamil India. The next ten is devoted to
Tirupati. As in the previous thirty, here again
he longs to render devoted service at the holy
shrine in Tirupati, and would rather be any one
of the things or beings on the hill, the water-bird,
or fish, or a menial servant in the temple, or the
Champaka tree, the door-step, or in fact any-
thing else, and concludes with the determination
that he would not exchange the lordship of
the heavenly world for being anything in fact
on the hill of Tirupati. Although in all the
eleven stanzas he refers to Tirupati by name,
he does not give any specific detail, apart from
natural features, in relation to the God and
worship in the temple, thus being exactly in
the position of Nammalvar and Periya Alvar and
JLndal, and no more. The next ten, the fifth
ten, is devoted to Vittuvakkodu in Travancore,
to the God in which he expressed himself com-
pletely devoted ; and the manner in which he
gives expression to this single idea is so natural
and moving. In the first stanza he describes
himself in attachment to the God much as a baby
beaten by the mother still returns to her. In
the next following he likens himself to a good
wife attaching herself to even a bad husband
who spurns her, and then again he makes his

168

OTHER ALVARS

attachment to God that of the loyal subject
attached to, and dependent upon, the sovereign
even negligent of his duty of protection. He
goes on through the ten the same way. The
last detail referred to above seems almost
reminiscent of one of the verses in the Kural*.
The next section is devoted to expressing his
dissatisfaction at the want of response to his
fervent prayers. This comes in the form of
G5pikas blaming Krishna for showing himself
irresponsive to their appeals. The next ten
again is one of disappointment where he puts
himself in the position of Devaki, the mother of
Krishna, who though she actually did give birth
to Krishna, was deprived of the enjoyment,
altogether of the frolics, of the baby. The third
ten again expresses, as if in contrast to the one
preceding, Kausalya's enjoyment of tending
baby Rama. The next one gives expression to
the bewailing brought about under tragic circum-
stances of Rama's banishment, and Dasaratha
bewailing the fate that brought this about. The
last ten is devoted to the celebration of the deity
in Chitrakuta (Chidambaram), and this ten
recounts the story of the Ramayana completely,
but in an abridged form. Here again, we have
the same progress in the realisation of the
faithful devotee who, after many struggles and

* No. 542.

169
22

HISTORY OF TIRUPAT1

disappointments, reaches ultimately to the end
desired of God-realisation, according to the ideals
of Vaishnava devotion. All that we learn from
this Alvar is that Tirupati gets a very high place
among the holy places of Vishnu, and a royal
personage such as the ruler of Travancore, would
in fact aspire to be the very door-step of the holy
shrine, thus giving indication of the high esteem
in which the shrine was held as a holy place.

THE THREE OTHERS. Reverting for a moment
to the three names, namely, Madhura Kavi,
Ton^ar Adippodi, and Tiruppan Alvar, the first
is one whose contribution to the Prabandham
is only one ten describing his devotion to his
Guru Satakopa to enforce the doctrine that once
the really satisfactory teacher is secured, all
else is secured for the attainment of the highest.
Ton^ar Adippodi, who has a large number
of verses, is so entirely devoted to Srlrangam
that he has practically no room for any direct
reference to other shrines, as it were. In regard
to Tiruppan Alvar, however, though he is also
one who lived all his life not far from Srl-
rangam— in fact he is placed in Uyaiyur not
far from Srlrangam — he has only one ten — all
that he wrote apparently. In that one ten which
is given entirely to describe the image of
Ranganatha in the holy shrine at Srlrangam,

170

OTHER ALVARS

he finds means to refer to Vengadam or Tirupati
in two places which would indicate the great
importance attached to the shrine at the time.
The references, however, arc of a general kind,
but in both cases, the reference is to the image
enshrined in Vengadam being that of God
almost as much as the image enshrined in
Srirangam.

TIRUMANGAI ALVAR: PERIYA TIRUMOLI. We

shall now pass on to the Periya Tirumoli and
other poems of Tirumangai 5.1var. Of these
latter, two are included in the group Periya
Tirumoli, namely, Tirukkurum Tandakam, and
Tirunedum Tandakam, and three others included
in the lyarpa thousand — which forms a separate
section — namely, Tiruvelukkurrirukkai, £iriya
Tirumadal and Periya Tirumadal making a total
of 1,134 stanzas in all of varying lengths.
Judging by quantity, his is the largest contri-
bution to the Prabandha, and this Prabandha
includes more verses of his than of any other
Alvar, and the character of the poetry itself
is much more elaborate in particulars so that
the orthodox regard his works as a whole, as
more or less an exposition of that of Nammalvar.
Tirumangai Al.v^r happens to have been born
in the Tanjore District and came of the Kallar
community. He was a military man essentially,

171

SlSTORT OF TIRUPATl

and had, as usual in those days, a small
civil government under the Cholas, his govern-
ment lying in the modern Shiyali Taluk. He
happened to fall in love with a foundling
daughter of a physician of the locality who had
no children of his own. She stipulated, as a
condition of her marriage with him, that he
should feed 1,008 Brahmans a day for a year
before she could consent to become his wife.
He agreed to do that, and had begun to even
waylay people and commit dacoity upon them
for the purpose of securing the wherewithal for
the purpose ; it is said that, in order to exhibit
His grace to the devotee and reclaim him,
God Vishnu himself came at the head of a
bridal party in the garb of one recently married
with all the wealth and ornaments suitable to
the occasion. In stripping him of his jewels in
the course of a dacoity, the Alvar was so
ihorough-going that he fell prostrate to pull off
the tightly fitting rings on the toes of the Q-od.
He got the inspiration immediately and burst
into song confessing access of devotion to Nara-
ya$a in complete self-surrender. This constitutes
the first ten of the thousand ascribed to him.
Thereafter he devoted himself entirely to
benefactions to various Vaishnava shrines known
at the time bath in the south and some few
elsewhere in the north. His works contain

172

ALVARS

references which would lead to the fixing of his
age than those of any other Alvar, and
specifically Nammalvar whose work is about as
much in quantity as that of this Alvar. From
these references, it is possible to fix his date in
the reign of the great Pallava ruler Nandivarman,
whose period would be the whole of the 8th
century. This is supported by a number of
historical incidents alluded to in the course of
this work. He sets about celebrating the
shrines in the north, Devaprayaga on the
Himalayas, and comes regularly down through
Badrinath, for which he devotes two tens, then
Salagrama, and then the forest ot Naimisa. He
then conies down to Singavelkunram, as it is
called, the modern Ahobalam, arid then enters
the Tamil country. The first shrine that he
celebrates in this region is Tiruvenga^am, for
which he gives four of his tens. Before proceed-
ing to that, we may in passing note that, speaking
of Ahobalam, he refers to the place as almost
inaccessible as it may be said to be to some
extent, even now. In regard to the four tens they
are professedly celebrating Vishnu as He presents
himself in Tirupati. But the references are
more or less of a general and of the ordinary
Vaishyava religious character. There is one
reference in stanza 2 of the first ten where the
God there is referred to as of the white-blue and

178

BISTOST OF TIRUPATt

of the saphire blue colour. This is the ordinary
description of Vishnu as being of the white
colour in the first Yuga, of golden red in the
second, saphire blue in the third and dark blue
in the fourth, thereby making it clear that
it is a form of Vishnu that is represented
there. In stanza 5 of the same section, He is
referred to, among other features, as possessed
of eight arms, and of being on the Himalayas.
These two might lead to the inference that
perhaps it is Siva. But that is negatived
immediately by the next statement that He is the
same deity that is on the hill at Tirumalirum-
solai*. The other references are more or less of a
general character such as that in stanza 9 of the
fourth ten where the deity is spoken of as the
one worshipped by Brahma, Siva and Indra. f

lotnrLDffLD
€T6oar en stun ear

Periya. Tiru. I, 8, 6.

ibid, II, 1, 9.
174

OTHER ALVARS

But, in stanza 5 and the next two following two
stanzas of that section, the Alvar makes a
reference that his own mind was attracted to the
religion of the Jains and Buddhists at one time,
and had then been drawn towards the deity at
Vengadam. There is nothing however that we
know of that he was actually a Buddhist or a Jain.
It may be a mere reference to the vacillation
of mind amidst the prevalent wordliness. Such
a reference would warrant the inference that
Buddhism and Jainism were in his time religions
which counted a considerable number of votaries
in this part of the country, The reference
which one finds in stanza 7 of the ten devoted
to Tiru-evvulur (modern Tiruvallur) * that Siva
formed a part of His body, and had his position
on the right side of His chest, is one among
many such references scattered throughout the
work, so that this only confirms what we find in
the early Alvars describing plainly the features
of oiva found on the image. The last stanza of
the ten devoted to Tiruvallikkeni (Triplicane)
has a historical reference of importance. The
stanza states clearly that the southern
Tondaman (Tondaiyar-Kon) king constructed

ibid, II, 2, 7.

HISTORY OF TIRUPAT1

for the temple the gardens and the rampart
walls surrounding the tall buildings about the
temple, the pavilion with it, and so on. This
would mean in fact that this particular Pallava
sovereign laid out and constructed the town
round the temple. Because of a few inscriptions
in the temple by Vairamegha Pallava one may be
tempted to infer that this is a reference to that
great Pallava who was the son of Nandivarman
Pallava, who, we stated already, was a con-
temporary of this Alvar. It seems however to
be a reference to that early Tondaman Chakra-
varti, so much associated with Tirupati, as the
author of the laying out of the town and the
building of the shrine as the early Alvars have a
great deal to say about this temple. Coming
down to the eighth ten of the second section
the Alvar celebrates the Ashtabujam shrine in
Kanchi. The characteristic feature of the deity
here is eight hands to which we already made
reference in regard to Tiruvengadam. Speaking
of the deity there he makes a specific reference
to the place as having been worshipped by those
who sang in &en Tamil (classical Tamil)*. These

eSff/ftev

0j39D

ff(BGIi

iT Q&rrw

ibid, II, 8, 2.

u>0aar eaar&r & p
iT Quiresr fl^ffirir

OTHER ALVAR8

poets of Tamil are interpreted as the early Xlvars,
Mudal Alvars as they are called, namely, Poygai,
Bhutam and Pey, as they are said to have
worshipped here chanting their Tamil poems as
the Gods themselves worship chanting the Veda.
It is in the concluding stanza of this ten that
there is a reference to a Vairamegha who seems
to be Dantidurga Vairamegha the founder of the
Rashtrakuta empire, who was in alliance with
the reigning Pallava Nandivarman *. Passing
down we come to Chidambaram, for which he
devotes two tens. For our purposes there are
only two references in the first ten. The shrine
of Grovindaraja is said in the first, stanza 3, to
have been worshipped by the Pallava king which
may i*efer either to Nandivarman or his father
who was in government in the locality, according
to the Vaikunthaperumal .inscription, wherefrom
Nandivarman himself came to Kanchi as king
by the nomination of the people. In the following
stanza is the interesting reference that the deity
which lay abed in the great dark sea was abed
in this temple, on the couch formed by the great

*coreofl near u>iru>J8&r ID/BOO* Q&Rfeo
&earfl <$**&
i> Qffr&xre

ibid, II, 8, 10.
177

Oft

HISTORY OF TIRUPAT1

snake with split tongue*. It is in identical terms
that the Chola Kulottunga II is said to have
referred to this deity when he ordered the
removal of the shrine and the deity along with
it. The ten devoted to Shiyali, £ri Rama
Vin^agar, according to the Vaishnavas, there is
an explicit reference to Siva forming the right
side of His body, Brahma being in the navel,
Lakshmi on His chest almost exactly in the form
in which they are described by the early Alvarsf.

/F/TUDLD L$0pfS

ibid, III, 2, 4.

LD ear ear

Kulottunga Chd{an Ula.

((pear eafl p) &L-e$GV gpg^G&fifi — Qfcbreufl.

Rajarajan Ufa.

&6ifluiT®u) QJUUCD
9ffiru> eSostxmsGn- Q&rri&ef

ibid, in, 4, 9.

178

OTHER ALVAR8

The concluding stanza refers to Him in all his
titles, as if he were roaring them out in victory,
as against some opponents who called in question
his claim to the titles, and there is an interesting
reference to the work being in Sangam Tamil.
It is in this place that he is traditionally said to
have had a controversy with Tirngranasamban-
dar, although there are difficulties in the way of
accepting it as a fact of history. In the fourth
division, the first ten, the people of Nangai
(Tirunangur) are spoken of as those who defeated
the king who attacked them in full force. We
shall come to this again when we make a fuller
reference to this particular. There is a reference
in stanza 8 of section 3 of this part to Venga^am
where the God on the hill is spoken of as the
very lamp of the Veda. In stanza 6 of the fifth
ten, * the people of Nangiir are said to have put
to flight the Pandya (Teiman) and the northern
king (Vada Arasu) which could only mean the
Pandya and the Pallava in alliance ; and this
alliance and the war had taken place just about
the time or somewhat earlier, and took place
in the Kaveri region between the Chalukyas

ibid, IV, 5, 6.
179

HISTORY OF TIRVPAT1

and the Pallavas. The first stanza of the
seventh ten has a reference again to this feature
of the people of Nangur in a more general way.
Stanza 5 again makes a reference to God at
Vengadam as a lamp on the hill.

In section IV, the ninth ten, there is a
reference in stanza 8, setting forth clearly the
four colours that Vishnu assumed in the four
great periods of time. In section V, third ten
there is a reference to the God at Tiruvenga^am
as Krishna who assisted the Pandavas, and in
the fifth ten of the same section, the very first
stanza mentions Vengadam, although the section
itself is in celebration of Srirangam. In the
next following section there is a reference to
God as Vadamalai, which may be taken as
referring to Vengadam. In the same section
relating to Srirangam, stanza 9 of the eighth
ten has a reference to God teaching the secret
Mantra of the worship of Vishnu to the Toi$a-
roan, apparently in reference to what took place
between Toijdaman Chakravarti * and the God

«brp/f. ILJff&IT

v, 8, 0.

180

OTHER ALVARS

in Venga^am. In the tenth ten of the same
section, stanza 7 there is a reference to Nandi-
pura Vinnagaram (Nadankovil), a short distance
from Kumbhakonam, where the holy place is
referred to as the one that received services in
dedication to the temple of a certain Nandi.
The historical reference is held to refer to the
great Nandivarinan 11, the Pallava king. The
sixth ten of the sixth section is in celebration
of Tirunariyur, and makes a reference in each
stanza to a Chola King Ko-oengan, and of his
achievements including the construction of 70
temples to Siva for worship. He is included
among the Nayanars of the Saivas, but the
reference here is that, after having done so
much to earn the grace of Siva, he felt the
need for an appeal to Vishnu and rendered
similar service to Vishnu. It looks however as
though he was a king, like many other Hindu
kings, who had made his benefactions to both
alike. There is an interesting reference in
stanza 5 of the same section where the king is
spoken of as of the Tamil land in the south, and
also as the king of the north, whatever this
latter might mean at the time, unless it be the
Pallava country. There is another reference
to Vengadam in section VIII, stanza I, third
ten, and in stanza 5, section VII. VII, 10, i
contains an interesting reference to the deity at

DISTORT OF

Tirukkovilur, and his act of grace in connection
with the first Alvars. In VIII, 1 he addresses
the Vishnu at Kannapuram as one having eight
arms. In the next section, stanza 3 has a
simple reference to Vengadam. IX, 2, 5 has a
reference to Koli and Kudal, the capitals
respectively of the Chola and Pandya in
reference to the manifestation of Vishnu in other
places as Krishna. IX, 6, 1 has an expressive
reference to Siva forming part of Vishnu. The
same section, IX, 7, 4 has a simple reference to
Vengadam, and stanza 9 to the false teaching
of the Jains and the Buddhists. IX, 8, 9 has
a similar reference. IX, 9, 9 has a simple
reference to Vengadam. IX, 10, 4 states clearly
that Vishnu allotted a part of His body
on the right side, to I§a who rides a bull and
holds Malu or &akti*. In X, 1, 2 there is a clear
reference to Vengadam. In section X, 6, 1
celebrating Krishna Avatara, there is a statement

QiDirear

x Q&rrQp p
arusuD LDGve
O surruj UD©<5(3>LD

ibid, IX, 10, 4.

ibid, X, 9, 4.
182

OTHER ALVARS

that Vishnu gave to the world a treatise on
Dharma assuming the form of Nara-Narayana.
This is obviously a reference to the gift of the
Pancharatra *. X, 9, 4 has a reference to £iva
forming part almost like the one above. XI,
5, 10 has a simple reference to Vengadam. That
takes us through the Periya Tirumoli proper.

OTHER WORKS OF TIRUMANGAI ALVAR. Coming

to the miscellaneous poems Tirunedum Tanda-
kam, section 2 contains a reference to the
various colours assumed by Vishnu. Stanza
9 refers to £iva forming part of Vishnu. Stanza
16 has a reference to Vengadam, and there is one
reference each to Vengadam in the Siriya
Tirumadal and Periya Tirumadal. In the latter
work, couplet 122 contains perhaps a more
explicit reference to the part played by God in
Tirukkovilur in connection with the Mudal
Alvars. In couplet 131 God himself is addressed

LDITUU

ibid, X, 6, 1.
188

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

as the Four Vedas, a& the Tamil of the Southern
Pandya, as the speech of the North. From
these references considered in detail, we see
Tirumangai Alvar following the tradition of the
other Alvars, and exhibiting himself as belonging
intimately to the same school of thought. What
is really to our purpose for the history of
Tirupati is that he makes a dozen simple
references to God at Vengadam in his address
to the representation of God in well-known
Vaishnava shrines of the South, having no doubt
as it were that the shrine in Tirupati was to him
a Vishnu shrine and nothing else. He also
brings out clearly the features that Siva formed
a part of His body, and, as such, the feature
discussed so elaborately by the Mudal Alvars of
Vishnu, was a thing well-known even in the days
of Tirumangai Alvar. We may now therefore
conclude that, to the Alvars whose period of life
may be held to extend from the Sangam period
in the third century after Christ the latest to
the eighth century when Tirumangai Alvar
flourished, there has been a continuous tradition
that the shrine in Venga<j.ani was a shrine
dedicated to Vishnu.

184

CHAPTER VIII.

BHAKTI, THE DOMINENT FEATURE
OP THE AGE.

THE VAISHNAVA CHARACTER OF VENGADAM MAIN-
TAINED IN LITERARY TRADITION. While therefore
Vaish^ava tradition is consistent that, notwith-
standing some features which may admit of a
suspicion, the deity in Vengadam was Vishnu,
we have other evidence of a secular character,
which would support this. We made reference
already to the early poet Mamulanar of the
oangam age who refers to Tirupati as a place
which had attained to fame " for its festive
celebrations during the year ". A reference
similar to that we find in respect of Kanchi in
the age of Tondaman Ilam Tiraiyan clearly
establishing that temples or shrines of worship
dedicated to Vishnu were not only known, but
that festive celebrations associated with such
shrines as in modern times, were, at least some
of them, already prevalent. We next indicated
that the Buddhist work £ilappadhikaram, the
author of which Ilango Adigal was probably a
Buddhist, refers in unmistakable terms to the
shrine in Tirupati as a shrine holy to Vishnu.
Four Vishnu shrines find reference in the work

186
24

HISTORY OF TIEUPATI

£ilappadhikaram and spoken of with respect
almost bordering on devotion by this author,
an alien to the faith of the Vaishnavas. These
are the holy shrines in Tiruvanantapuram,
(Trivandrum), Tinimalirumsolai, orirangam and
Tirupati. Of these the latter three are regarded
as of peculiarly holy reputation to the individual
pilgrim concerned, who was a native of the
Malabar country belonging to a village Manga^u
to whom the deity at Trivandrum would be more
or less his own. He is made to say that he was
on a pilgrimage to the famous shrines of South
India, outside of his native country, and these
three find mention in this connection. The poet
takes occasion to describe the God in Vengadam
in graphic terms, which leaves no doubt whatso-
ever that the deity according to him was Vishnu
in full form. For another secular literary
reference, we may come down to the reign of
Nandivarman III, Nandivarman of Tellaru as he
is called, in whose reign the Bharatavenba was
composed by its author Perundevanar. This
Perundevanar has a reference to Venga<Jam * as

Quueisr gu

Bhftrata Veybft — Bhlshma Parva :

First Day's War, Stanza 1.

186

3BAKTI, THE DOMINENT FEATURE OF THE AGE

a Vaishiiava shrine coupling it with Attiyur
(Vishnu-Kanchi), where perhaps the author
actually lived. The earliest known inscription
in Tirupati is that of a predecessor of this Nandi-
varman of Tellaru, Danti Vikramavarman.
Therefore then we have references throughout
the centuries to the shrine in Vengadam as a
Vishnu shrine before we come to the evidence
of the inscriptions.

THE GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE PERIOD OF THE
ALVARS. We have so far covered the history of
the shrine at Tirupati ever since its foundation
down to the beginning of the 10th century
almost. We noticed that all the Puranas together
uniformly make out that the temple is, in its
origin, what is called a holy place self-create
(svaymbhu), that is, it is not a human foundation
to begin with. All of them agree similarly
that the human founder of the temple, apart
from an individual devotee, was a Toijdaman
ruler of the locality who had his capital near
Vengadam and ruled over the tract of country
surrounding it. They also furnish us the infor-
mation that the period during which he flourished
and thus rendered the pious service to Vishnu,
was the early centuries of the Christian era,
in fact, specifically the period between the
foundation of the Samvat era of Vikramaditya
and that of the Saka, that is, between the years

187

HISTORY OF T1RUPAT1

67 B. C., and 78 A. D. Whether we accept this
precise dating or not, we may take it that the
foundation of the temple as a human institution
may be ascribed to the first century of the
Christian era. From that period on we have
come down eight clear centuries noting down
what we can glean of the history of the temple
from literary sources alone. The period actually
covered relates historically to the period of
the three kingdoms of the South, which may
be held more or less roughly to correspond
to the oangam age so-called, followed by
that of the early Pallava kings of the Prakrit
charters. This is followed by a period of rule
of Pallava kings of the early dynasty which
issued the few charters that its members did, in
Sanskrit. The period of rule of this dynasty
may be counted as from the beginning of the
4th century down to the latter part of the 6th
century A. D. With the middle of the 6th
century we come to the historical period, ordina-
rily described as the age of the great Pallavas
of Kanchi. This dynasty ruled from the latter
half of the 6th century down to Aparajita Pallava
who was overthrown and Pallava domination
extinguished almost at the end of the 9th
century. In regard to this period, inscriptional
records are comparatively few, and therefore
the historical material generally available to us

188

SffAKTt, TBE DOMINANT FEATURE 01 THE AGE

for later periods is not available to us for this
period. Not that inscriptions were unknown,
but it had not become the fashion to issue these
inscriptions in the elaborate form and the large
number in which they got to be issued in the
periods of history following that with which we
are at present concerned. But even so, there
is reference to a Vishnu shrine dedicated to
Vishnu-Narayana in one of the Prakrit charters
which refers to a donation to the temple by
a very early Pallava Queen, Charudevi. *
Similar references to donations to Vishnu shrines
we have even among the Pallavas of the early
Sanskrit charters. But the founder of the later
dynasty Siinha Vishnu is definitely spoken of, in
the later inscriptions, as a Vaishnava devoted to
the worship of Vishnu specifically, and, among the
rulers of this dynasty that succeeded him, there
were some undoubtedly who made donations
to temples of Vishnu and otherwise contributed
largely to the promotion of Vishnu worship,
particularly the great Nandivarman II, Pallava-
rnalla. There are inscriptions of his son
Dantivarman in the Vishnu temple at Triplicane.f
But there is no record of any of the kings before
this one, having had anything to do with the

* Epigraphia Indica, Vol. VIII, 143.
^Epigraphia Indica, VIII, 291 (No. 29.)

189

HISTORY OF T1RUPAT1

temple at Tirupati, notwithstanding the fact that
the temple itself was known popularly and was
regarded as a holy place of eminence from the
other evidence that we have so far considered.
It would ordinarily be considered strange that,
being as it is within the territory of the Pallavas
and given the name to what may be regarded
as one of the main divisions of the Tonda-
mandalam, the territory prominently of the
Pallavas, it should find no mention. This is
perhaps due to the fact that the habit of making
donations to temples and recording them in
grants had not been adopted as a general
practice in those days. In fact, this seems to
have been set in full form by the great Chola
Rajaraja, and before him, inscriptions are only
occasional and have reference more or less to
incidents which are referred to in a more or less
unconnected form and not set in formal
documents as in the periods following. There is
also the additional circumstance that the shrine
in Vengadam was in a comparatively inaccessible
locality very difficult of approach generally,
and therefore not perhaps quite as popular as
other places. From this silence it should not
be argued that either temples to Vishnu did
not exist, or that temple worship was not the
fashion.

190

&HAKTI, THE DOMINENT FEATURE OF THE AGE
VISHNU AMONG THE EARLY TAMIL GODS. The

Tamil grammar Tolkappiyam, the earliest
grammar extant and an authoritative classic on
the subject, has an interesting reference in Sutra
5 of the section on Ahaitinai in Porul Adhikaram,
which makes four Gods as the recognised deities
of the Tamil land. * The matter has reference
to the division of land composing the country
generally. The section on Porul as it is called,
Sanskrit Artha, refers to the norms of life,
dealing as it does, with one, perhaps in general
point of view the most important one, on wordly
life, and, in trying to lay down the norms, the
work begins with a division of land which may
be regarded as naturally divisible into four ;
forest land, presided over by Krishna- Vishnu
(Mayon), hilly parts presided over by Kumara or
Subrahmanya, Tamil Muruga (Seyon), then
well-watered agricultural land, presided over by
the king (Indra) ; and lastly coast land of sand
presided over by Varuna (God of the Sea). It
will be noticed that the names given leave it
in no doubt what Gods are intended. The

ar QLDLU <s® LOOKS® IT ULJSV&QPLD

sr (oLoujQu@u)eodr gyms
u>@fiu>

Tolkappiyam Porul, Aham 5,
191

SI8TORT OF T1RUPAT1

ascription here of particular kinds of land as
being presided over by particular deities seems
to be analogous to the Yajur Veda, * which
goes farther and gives a far larger list of all
things making Vishnu the presiding deity over
hills generally. But the Tamils generally
divided the land only into four classes as above,
adding a fifth, desert land, which however was
regarded not as a separate class of land, but
merely as one or the other of the former ones
transformed, owing to a change of climatic
conditions. Therefore then it is clear that
Vishnu as a deity is as old as the Tamil
Tolkappiyam.

This reference so far is merely to the names
of the Gods, and all that is said of them is that
they are presiding deities over particular classes
of land. No further information, however, is
given about them. In poem 56 of Purananuru,
however, we seem to get information of a diffe-
rent character. This is a poem by Nakklrar
celebrating a Pandya who died in ' a garden
pavilion ' as he is described. He is likened here
to the four principal Gods in the various qualities
he was possessed of, and the four Gods tinder
reference are oiva, Balabhadra or Balarama,
as he is called, Krishna-Vishnu and Kumara

* Krishna Yajur Samhita, K&ruja, III, Praina 4.

BHAKTI, THE DOMINENT FEATURE OF THE AGE

Subrahmanya*. TheMominent quality of each of
these Gods who are said to be above .time, the
ruler is credited with being in possession of.
He is likened to the first one, who is here
described as Death (God of Destruction) in anger.
He is said to resemble the second in strength,
the third in fame and the fourth in successfiil
accomplishment. Though this is merely a
reference for a poetical purpose, the features
given of these Gods exhibit a considerable
agreement to references in classical Tamil
literature thereby giving us to understand without
doubt, that these were Gods recognised in the
Tamil land as the supreme deities deserving of
worship. The first one is described as having a
bull for his vehicle and matted locks of hair, the
irresistible trident and blue throat, unmistakably
a reference to Siva. The second one is described
as of the colour of the conch coming out of the
sea, carrying the warlike weapon, the plough,
and having on his flag a palm tree for his ensign,

ULJL-GV
LD65BT6G

cSesor aopiujfr niL.Qsfny.e8 pev Q^mL

i, Qioear

j sir &(§(&

tsrr<a)&!T.

Puram, 56.
193

HISTOHY OF TIEVPAT1

undoubtedly a reference to Baladeva, the elder
brother of Krishna. The third one is similarly
described as of the colour of the blue saphire
well washed, whose flag carried the ensign of
Graruija and possessed of great valour. The
fourth is described as carrying on the flag the
ensign of the peacock, as uniformly victorious,
riding on the peacock for a vehicle and of a
red colour. These are described in the next
following lines as deities protecting the earth and
as being above time. We see therefore that, in
the particular period to which this has reference,
Krishna- Vishnu and his elder brother Baladeva
were known as the ruling deities of the universe
along with the two others. The reference to
Krishna-Vishnu and Baladeva as it occurs here
is just exactly how it occurs elsewhere in Tamil
literature as we shall notice, as well as in the
iiiscriptional literature of the centuries immedi-
ately preceding the Christian era in the Deccan
and Central India, and perhaps even elsewhere.
These two are two among the four vyuhas of
Vishnu according to the school of Pancharatra
and form the basis of the Bhakti school of
thought. Nakkirar's reference however is again
a reference merely to the Gods as such and
some of their features, but does not give us any
detail as to the Vishnu temples or places of
worship.

194

BHAKTI, THE DOfflNENT FEATURE OF THE AGE

REFERENCE TO THESE GODS IN TEMPLES WITH
FESTIVALS, ETC. The Silappadhikaram however,
provides us with two references which take us
much further in regard to these Grods as being
among those worshipped in temples. They are
said to be the principal deities to whom temples
were built along with a number of others
regarded as of comparatively inferior standing
both in the Chola capital of Kaverippumpattinam
and in Madura, the Pandya capital. The
first reference is in Book V, lines 169-172, in
connection with the celebration of the great
festival to Indra, and temples to these are
mentioned as having their own festivals in
connection therewith. * The first of course is
a reference to a temple of the great one not
having birth (£iva). The next one is the
temple to the red one with six faces (Kumara-
Subrahmanya). The next one is that to the
white one, whose body is of the colour of the
conch (Baladeva), and the next one is the
temple of the great one of the colour of saphire-
blue (Krishna- Vishnu). These are stated in so

u Qu/flGWear
iGsiJ0tr6BBfl $&
&JITGU suVeirQiLeafi ^rreSIQiurrear

SilappadhikSram, V, 179, 183.
195

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

many words to be housed in temples, and
worshipped accordingly with periodical festivals
as well. Similarly in Book XIV, lines 7 to
10 ; here again as day broke in Madura, the
morning band announced the break of day in
the following temples. The first is the great
temple to the Great One " with an eye in the
face. " The next one is the temple to the Great
One who had the Garuda bird for his flag. The
next one was again the temple wherein was
housed the white God carrying the plough in
his right hand, and the last one was the temple
sacred to the God with " the ensign of a cock.* "
Here we see that these Gods were housed in
temples with organised worship and festivals as
they do obtain in these days. It would not seem
therefore anything extraordinary if in that early
period a ruler up-country like the Tondaman
had come upon the image of a God at Vengadam,
felt it necessary to enshrine the image in a temple
and arrange for its worship.

PANCHARATRA AND THE BHARTI SCHOOL OP VISHNU
IN FULL VIEW IN THE SANG AM AGE. We have
already noted the reference in the Silappadhi-
karam to the temple at Tirupati itself, wherein

Qeu&rti&r

196

(u>t>.

ibid, XIV, 7, 10.

K
(A

SSAKTt, TSK DOMINANT FEATURE OF TSS AGE

the author gives a graphic description of the
Vishnu image there. This reference to Vishnu
in Tirupati comes as the account of a pilgrim
from the Malabar country going on a pilgrimage
to the most holy Vishnu shrines in South India,
among which he mentions the shrines in
Tirumalirumsolai, Srirangam and Tirupati. He
also states, in the course of this narration, that
he came from a village, Mangadu, in the west
country, and, being a devotee of Padmanabha
there, he says, that his anxiety to visit the
shrines of great reputation, such as the three
mentioned before, drew him on, and that he
undertook the pilgrimage in consequence thereof.
This statement and the manner in which the
reference is made by the author to it, would
alike make it clear that temples dedicated to
Vishnu were already well-known, and in great
repute as holy places justifying pilgrimages
being undertaken, and pilgrims from even distant
countries made it a point to visit these places as
part of their pious duty in life. Notwithstanding
doubts expressed in certain quarters, there is
nothing seriously to call into question the early
age of the work, and it must be held to belong,
by its character, to the same class as the Sangam
works, whatever be its actual precise date. This
work certainly has a direct bearing upon the
history of this Tirupati hill by its specific

197

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

reference to the shrine there ; but the sister work
Manimekhalai does contain several references to
the worship of Krishna-Vishnu and Baladeva in
the course of it. These references read in the light
of the poems devoted to Vishnu in the Paripadal,
of which there are just five, not only show that
the worship of Krishna- Vishnu and Baladeva
were widely prevalent and popular, but also that
the Tamils were familiar with the whole theory of
the Pancharatra Agama, devoted to the worship of
Vishnu-Vasudeva and his four vyuhas of which
these two form the first pair, the other two being
Pradhyumna and Aniruddha.* It is matter for
satisfaction that in these poems we get a refe-
rence to the Vishnu shrine in Tirumalirumsolai
specifically. We see therefore that, in the period
broadly to be described as the £angam age,
namely, the first three centuries of the Christian
era, Vishnu worship had already attained to a
wide popularity. Temples to Vishnu were well-
known, and a feature of the capital cities of the
Tamil land. The most popular forms of Vishnu
worshipped in these temples were Krishna- Vishnu
and Baladeva, the Agamaic names Vasudeva and
Sankarshana, not being unknown. That is not

QuiT€ar&G38rU&6B)<F

Paripadal III, 11. 82—83.
[This poem gives in summary the Pftncharfltra.]

198

BHAKTI, THE DOM1NENT FEATURE OF THE AGE

all. On the evidence of the Paripadal it can also
be safely asserted that all the essential features
of the Pancharatra were already known in the
Tamil land, and, not merely known, but had also
attained to considerable vogue in practice. We
see therefore Bhakti — we are concerned here
only with Vishnu Bhakti — in the most developed
form already prevalent in this part of the country.

We have already indicated rather more
elaborately than otherwise, that, in the age of
the Alvars, which may be held to extend from
the 3rd century A. D. 1o the 9th century almost,
the Bhakti school of Vaishnavism had attained
to wide acceptance and even to considerable
importance. At the end of this period, we
could say definitely the worship of Vishnu
on the Pancharatra system had become a well
recognised form of Bhakti, and constituted, if
not the one system of Bhakti worship, at least a
prominent one. It is just about this age, that
we come upon the beginning of inscriptioiial
records relating to Vengadam, although as we
have pointed out already, inscriptions found in
relation to temples were already centuries old.
In this position, and with such a volume of
evidence before us, it would be carrying scepti-
cism too far to deny the existence of a temple in
Vengadam, notwithstanding the fact that we
have not come upon any inscriptions relating
to the temple.

199

CHAPTER IX.

HISTORY OF TONDAMANDALAM.
TONDAMANDALAM, ITS EARLY HISTORY. In the

age of the inscriptions, Vengadam is generally

described as belonging to Tiruvengadakkottam

of the Tondamandalam. Tondamandalam has

to be understood as either the country of the

Tondaiyar the people, or the territory under .the

rule of the Tondamaii ruler. On the analogy

of Tamil names however, Tondamaii would be

nothing more than the chief of the Tondaiyar.

We have therefore to take it that the territorial

name is derived from the people who occupied

the territory. In classical Tamil literature,

however, the division called Tondamandalam is

described generally as Aruvanadu indicating

Tondamandalam proper ; and the country beyond

and still dependent upon Tondamandalam and

having intimate connection with it, is described

as Aruvavadatalai, that is, northern Aruva.

Taking the two together the whole territory

would be territory occupied by the people known

as Aruvalar, made up of Aruva and A\ar, people

to whom belongs the Aruvanadu. Therefore the

whole territory included in Toudamandalam of

which Vengadakkottam is a part was occupied

200

HISTORY OF TONDAMANDALAM

by a distinct class of people and took its name
from them. Where therefore the Pattinappalai,
celebrating the great Chola ruler Karikala,
speaks of him as a prince from whom the old
AruwHar people took commands, would mean
that he had subjugated these people and brought
them under his authority ; that is, Tonda-
mandalam had been brought under Chola
authority in the days of Karikala. It was
nevertheless territory far away from the head-
quarters, and therefore likely to throw off the
yoke of the central authority at the earliest
opportunity. In the period of decline of the
Chola power two generations after Karikala,
Tondamandalam broke away from the Chola
country and relapsed into its old condition in
which it was a territory under tribal organisation
and government. From the earliest times of
which we have any information, this territory
is said traditionally to have been divided into
24 divisions, called here Ko$tams, each one of
which was dominated by a fortress from which
the governors governed in a sort of military
government, and to which the people retired on
occasions of danger. Twenty-four such forts
are mentioned as belonging to this division,
and there were 24 divisions under separate
tribal chieftains. Tiruvengadakkottam forms one
such division. Ordinarily these divisions were

201
9ft

HISTORY OF TIBUPATI

brought under a central authority of some kind,
which dominated the whole region. Within
historical times that central authority happened
to be located in Kanchi, and hence we have
come to regard more or less Kanchi as the
headquarters of the Tondamandalam. According
to tradition, however, there seems to have
been a period when it was not Kanchi, but a
fortified town called Pulal now a village on
the borderland of the Red-Hills Tank, which
itself is known among the people as Pulaleri.
Whether it was actually so or not, we have
information of Kanchi as a town of very con-
siderable importance even in the days of the
grammarian Patanjali about the middle of the
2nd century B. C. Kanchi dominated the
division under the Cholas, and probably continu-
ed ever since to dominate the region, so that
now Tondamandalam generally is understood to
have been dominated by Kanchi, and Kanchi
and Tondamandalam are treated as more or less
interchangeable terms politically.

TIRUVENGADAKKOTTAM, AN EARLY DIVISION UNDER

A TONDAMAN CHIEF. This Tiruvengadakkottam
dominated by the hill Tiruvengadam from which
it takes its name was regarded as of four
divisions named after Chittoor, Chandragiri,
Tiruchanur and Kalahasti. This gives us an
idea of the extent of the division, and the

202

HISTORY OF TONDAMANDALAM

territory iucluded in it must have been one of
the oldest divisions of the Tondamandalam.
Under the original organisation of the land,
each of these Kottams must have been dominated
by a fortress. The chieftain who governed the
locality, or the tribal chieftain, would naturally
go by the name Raja, although Tamil literature
later on does make a division of rulers into
classes and calls these people smaller kings
(Kuru-nila-mannar), in contradistinction to the
crowned kings of the three vast kingdoms of the
south, namely, Chola, Pandya and Chera. It
would be nothing surprising if these chieftains
were ruling over one part or other of the
Toijdamandalam. We have already noticed that
the image at Tirupati was actually dug out of
the earth by the Tondaman chieftain, ruler of
Narayanavanam not far from the locality, and
enshrined it in the temple. He is also said to
have been the organiser of worship there. It
seems not unlikely, and the Puranic story is
probably based on a foundation of fact so far as
this particular goes. But the Puranic datum in
regard to date would make his time the first
century, A. D. or B. C. Again that period does
not seem unlikely either, as we know this was
an ancient division of the land, and its ancient
organisation continued in historical times. There-
fore then the foundation of the temple on the

208

&STORY OF TIRUPATt

hill must have been at the very beginning of the
Christian era, and under the native ruling chief
who went by the name Tondaman.

EARLY HISTORY OP TONDAMAND AL AM , TOND AM ANS

AND PALLAVAS. The political changes that came
over this region seem to have been somewhat as
follows. The petty chieftains of the illcultured
regions dominated by particular forts seem
gradually to have been brought under one
central control, and that controlling authority
seems to have held rule at Kanchi. In the
oangam literature we know of two Tiraiyans,
the elder Tiraiyan holding rule in the north at
Pavattiri, Reddipalem in the Griidur Taluq, and
the younger, or llam Tiraiyan, ruling over
Kanchi. This reduction of the whole territory
to subordination to Kanchi probably was the
result — it may be of the Chola conquest, or
it might have come about even previously.
We have good reasons for assuming a Chola
viceroyalty earlier, and that Toi^aman llam
Tiraiyan we have good reasons for assuming
was likewise a Chola viceroy. It is in connec-
tion with him that the story is told that he was
the son of a Chola ruler by a Naga princess.
Almost the same story is told of Toijdaman of
Vengadam that he was the son of a Choja ruler
by a Naga princess. As this story of the birth
of IJam Tiraiyan is recorded by NacchinSrk-

ao*

StSTOBt OF TONDAMANDALAM

kiniyar, the commentator, the place where this
liaison took place is supposed to be Nagap-
pattinam, hitherto taken to be the Negapatam
in the Tanjore District. It might just as well
be the town, or the capital city, of the Nagas.
Whatever that be, we have no satisfactory
grounds for identifying this early Tondaman,
the founder of the temple at Tirupati, with
Tondaman Ilam Tiraiyan, who seems to have
come later in point of time. We see therefore
already that the early Tondaman who con-
structed the temple for Venkatesa at Vengadam
and arranged for the festivals and the worship
in the temple, must have been a Tondaman
chieftain of Tiruvengadakkottam and the localities
near about ; and this is supported by the fact
that Mamulanar could speak of the celebration
of festivals in Tirupati. This must have been
even earlier than the bringing of all Tonda-
mandalam under one authority that central
authority being placed at Kanchi. We have
therefore to take it that Tondamandalam was
one ethnical unit ; but consisted of a certain
number of chieftaincies, whether it be actually
24 or not, and had been gradually politically
united to be regarded as one kingdom under
the rule of the chieftain at Kanchi. That ife
the stage in which we find it under Tondaman
I}am Tiraiyan, and the opening period of the

206

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

inscriptions when the authority of the Andhra
dynasty was still in full force. We see one or
two 5>ndhra governors in the locality probably
coming after the Tondamandalam had been
unified as stated above. This unification
followed perhaps the Chola conquest involving
as a consequence, the systematic introduction
of agriculture and of an agricultural civilisa-
tion consequent thereon. Just about this time,
we have inscriptional evidence for a line of
rulers, who may be father and son, and perhaps
the second came two generations after the first.
The first of these rulers is credited with having
carried out a policy of promotion of agriculture
by the gift of the means of agriculture, plough-
oxen, and ploughs themselves together with
money. The son seems to have followed in the
same course, and was probably the acknowledged
ruler of the whole region. It is an inscription
of his daughter-in-law Charudevi which records
a gift to the temple of Vishnu-Narayana, thereby
putting it beyond a doubt that temples to Vishnu
were in existence, and worship of Vishnu in
temples was not unknown. If Charudevi could
do it, be it remembered that she did not build
the temple but merely made a grant to an
existing one, what is there to prevent another
ruler who may have been previous to her by a
few generations having constructed a temple

806

HISTORY OF TONDAMANDALAM

and arranged for worship and the conducting of
festivals through the year ? With the appearance
of these we seem to arrive at the establishment
of Pallava rule in Kaiichi, and of Pallava
dominence in Tondamandalam. Of course, when
well established the Pallavas also called them-
selves Tondamans, and kings of Tondaiyar
(Tondaiyarkon) and so on. This could be
explained by the fact that, having succeeded to
the rule of the country of the Tondaiyar,
Tondamandalam, they could very well describe
themselves as Tondamans. Whether the term
Pallava actually took its origin from the Tondai
creeper with which, according to the story, the
Tondaman prince born to the Naga Princess by
the Chola king, was decorated was what gave
the name, is perhaps more than we can say
definitely although some of the early inscriptions
would give that explanation. Be that as it may,
we find Pallava rule beginning betimes, almost
immediately after the rule of Toridaman Ilam
Tiraiyan, and we could mark three separate^
groups of rulers, as indicated before, from that
period down to the later years of the 6th century.
The point for consideration at present is why
these rulers who have left some inscripti
records of their own in various other
have left none in the shrine of
We cannot say exactly why. Tiru

207

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

have been in the age of the Pallavas as
inaccessible as in the earlier, and even down
to the much later period of the Cholas, and
the practice of recording in inscriptions gifts
to temples had not become so much a vogue
as yet. That seems to be enough explanation,
and, at any rate, that is all that we are in a
position to offer. The absence of inscriptions
therefore cannot be held as an argument
against the existence of the temple itself. The
temple may have existed without as yet having
become sufficiently important, or sufficiently
popular to merit that recording, and, as we
have stated already, that way of recording itself
has been comparatively rare in these early
days. When we come to the great Pallava
dynasty, we are able to see that temple worship
had become popular and a well recognised institu-
tion. Numbers of temples both to Vishnu and iSiva
and to many other gods of the Hindu Pantheon do
find mention in the Pallava territory. We find
the statue of Simhavishnu and his queens, and
his son Mahendravarman and his queens in the
Varaha cave in Mahabalipuram, and, in all
probability, the Vishnu shrine in the locality
perhaps already in existence, not in the
of the present temple, but perhaps in the
of a smaller shrine. It is the great
Narasimhavarman that attempted the laying out

808

SISTORY OF TONDAMANDALAM

and beautification of the city which perhaps
was not carried to completion because of a
political revolution. The great Nandivarman
Pallavamalla was the builder of a great temple
to Vishnu in Conjeevaram itself, and his son has
left records of his benefactions to the temple at
Triplicane and at Tirupati. Nandivarman of
Tellayu, his grandson was the parton of
Perundevanar, whose work Bharatavenba, we
already mentioned, makes prominent mention
of Vengadam and Kanchi. So before we come
to Nrpatungavarman we have more or less
indirect references to Vishnu temples and Vishnu
worship, and just a few occasional references
to the temple at Vengadam itself. In the light
of the works of the Alvars alone, we ought to
hold that Vishnu worship was prevalent and
popular. We have enough of secular evidence
in what has been stated above. We need not
therefore, be unnecessarily sceptical about the
statements of the 5.1vars in regard to the
matter.

THE GENERAL COURSE OP SOUTH INDIAN HISTORY
TO A.D. BOO. The general trend of South Indian
History during the first eight centuries of the
Christian era may be set down in general terms
as follows. The Andhra rulers, whose authority
during the best periods of their history extended
over the region beginning southwards .from

209
87

&STORY OF TIEUPAT1

Ajmer and Pushkar in the north down to the
western districts of modern Mysore, had an
alternative capital in the basin of the lower
Krishna at Amaravati wherefrom they stretched
southwards, and, perhaps at one time, made an
effort to extend their authority successfully even
down to the southern Pennar. It is perhaps this
effort of the great Andhra Yaguasri that set up a
vigorous opposition from the Tamils. When
ultimately the Andhra power collapsed at the
beginning of the third century, some of the
enterprising governors of these eastern provinces
of the Andhras probably made an effort to
gradually fix their hold upon the territories of
To^damandalam. The gradual pressure from
the Andhra empire seems to have set up a popular
movement resulting in the migration of the some-
what less civilised people who seem to have
completely upset the governments of South India
and introduced what may well be regarded as the
period of anarchy to which the later inscriptions
refer in unmistakable terms. This is the move-
ment of the pepole called Kalvar or Kalavar,
and they must have moved down from the region
round and about Vengadam, if not from the
whole of the Tondamandalam. The subversion
of the Chola dynasty seems to have been more
or less -complete, and the Pandya power suffered
substantially, if not exactly to the same degree,

210

HISTORY OF TONDAMANDALAM

ao that there seems to have been something like
a break in the established order for a number of
generations, say six to eight. Emerging from
this a new Pandya dynasty had to re-establish its
claims to what normally belonged to them, some
time about the end of the 6th century, and
through a course of struggle lasting for more
than two centuries restored themselves to their
former position. The materials at our disposal
generally give evidence of another such recovery
on the part of the Cholas. It looks as though the
Chola power had not been completely destroyed,
although for the moment it was so thoroughly
crippled that it failed to show itself during
these centuries. It was in the course of this
movement that the so-called Pallava state of
Kanchi came into existence and successfully
established its authority over the territory
extending from the river Krishna down to the
southern Pennar. In the course of this effort,
they seem to have shifted their capital. Kanchi
was certainly an important city and was regarded
as the capital of Tondamandalam in an earlier
period. During the next following centuries the
dominating power of South India became the
ruling power at Kanchi known as the Pallava,
generally referred to in Tamil works relating to
the period, as the kings of the " northern
territory ", as distinct from the three crowned

211

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

kings of the south. The period of struggle
which culminated in the establishment of this
dominent position of the Pallavas is the period
covered by the Pallava dynasty of the Sanskrit
charters, as the epigraphists call them, beginning
almost with Vishnugopa of Kanchi referred to in
the Samudragupta inscription and coming down
to Simhavarman II, the father of Simhavishnu.
The two centuries and more therefore of this
dynasty is the period of the building up of the
Pallava power in the south.

218

PALLAVA KINGS.
I.

Bappa— c. A. D. 225-250.

Siva Skandavarman I of KSnchi.— c. 250-275.

Buddhavarman— 275-300. Md. CharudSvi.

Buddhyankura— 300-325.

VishnugSpa 1—325-350.

Skandavarman 11—350-375.

Kumara- Vishnu I alias KSlabharty— 375-400.

Buddhavarman 11—400-425.

Skandavarman III or Chfyu-Pallava.
Kumara Vishnu 11—425-450. Viravarman or ' Vlrakurcha.'

Vijaya Skandavarman IV alias Skandasishya — 450-475.
(Fleet makes reign end in 436).

Simhavarman 1*— 475-500 (Fleet
makes his accession as in the
year following August 25, 436).
This king crowned the Ganga
Harivarman or Ayyavaram for
the purpose of crushing the
BSna chiefs, about A. D. 450.

Skandavarman V alias Chanfla-
dan4a— 500-525 (c. 460 Fleet)
Installed the Ganga Madhava I
about 470 (Fleet).

Nandivarman ,1 — 525-550.

1 Yuvamaharaja ' VishnugSpa II
or ' Kumara Vishnu ' Did not
reign. Recaptured Kanchi from
the Cholas.

Simhavarman II — Did not reign.
VishnugSpa III — Did not reign.

* For Fleet's date see/ R. A. S. 1915, p. 471 f, especially p. 465;

813

PALLAVA

II.

Simfiavarman 11—550-575.

Simhavishnu or ' Avanisimha-PSttaraja '
MahSndravarman 1—600-630.

Narasimhavarman 1—630-668.
Captured Badami from W. Chajukyas, 642

MahSndravarman 11—668-670.

ParamSsvara Potavarman 1—670-690.
'Destroyed the city of Ranarasika.' Won battle of Peruvalanallu'r.

Narasimhavarman II — 690-715.

Parame*svara-P<5tavarman II — 715-717. Mahe"ndravarman.

The line ended with him.

III.

Simhavarman II — 550-575 •

Bhlmavarman.

Buddhavarman.

Xdityavarman.

GSvindavarman.

Hiranyavarman. Md. R5hini.

Nandivarman 11—717-779.

Won battles at Mannaikku(}i and Sankaramangai against the Pan4yas.
Pan<}ya records however claim the victory, prior to A. D. 769.

I) an tivarman— 779-830 Vanquished by Rashtrakflta GSvinda III,
to whom he became feudatory, about 804.

Nandivarman III— 830-854.
Md. Sankha, dau. of Raster aktya AmSghavarsha 1.

I " I

Nfpatunga— 854-880. The Bana chief Vijaya-Kampa.

B5na-VidySdhara was his tributary.

A^arSjita— 880 c. 898 crushed by the ChBla king
Sditya I, and territory annexed.

2J4

SISTORY OF TONDAMAtfDALAM
THE PERIOD OF PALLAVA ASCENDENCY STILL

LEAVES TIRUPATI IN OBSCURITY. With Simha-
vishnu the son of Simhavarman II, we come to
the period of the Pallava history when a great
dynasty of Pallava rulers, as set forth in the
tables above, held rule over South India and
established a dominence which they had to make
good as against the Chalukyas of Badami, the
contemporary Dakhan power whose southern
frontier was more or less continuously in touch
with the northern frontier of the Pallavas ; the
whole block of territory between the Krishna
and the Tungabhadra in the upper part of its
course, and the northern Pennar in the lower,
happened to be the debatable land between the
two powers. It was more or less the rivalry
between the Andhras and the Tamils of the
earlier period carried forward almost undiminish-
ed during the period of the great Pallavas.
The first South Indian power to recover from
the devastating irruption of the Kalvars was the
Pan<Jya, and naturally the Pandyas challenged
the title to supremacy over the Tamil land set
up by the Pallavas. The struggle seems to
some extent somewhat embittered not merely by
the political rivalry of the dynasties, but by
racial bitterness, and, to some extent, even
cultural hostility. This great dynasty of Palla-
from Simhavishgu almost down to the- e&ft

215

HISTORY OF TIRUPATt

of the reign of Nandivarman II may be saicl
to have held their own. Their title however was
seriously challenged by the rising power of the
Pandyas who, almost about the same time as
the beginning of this dynasty, recovered to
some considerable degree their original position
and prestige to make a successful attack on the
Pallavas. This Pallava-Pandya struggle was
a feature of this period of Pallava history,
and culminated almost in the simultaneous
extinction of both the powers as dominating
South Indian politics. We have already stated
that the Pallava sovereigns of this dynasty
though engaged primarily in war were not
negligent of their duties as civil rulers. Their
achievement is on the whole very considerable
both in useful public works and in the pious acts
of benefactions to religion. Notwithstanding
this we do not find them to have done anything
worthy of record to the holy shrine at Ven-
gadam, notwithstanding the fact that the shrine
had attained to great fame early in its history.
This can be explained as due more or less to
Vengadam being on a frontier in dispute
between the Pallavas and their northern neigh-
bours for one reasou. Almost the first Chola
to establish his authority over the territory of
the Pallavas has had to do a good deal of
ftghtiag on this frontier — in fact, as his inscrip-

216

HISTORY OF TONDAMANDALAM

tions state it — he laid down his life iii battle at
a place called Tondamanarriir, not; far from
Kalahasti on the Svarnamukhi river. This
was the great frontier of dispute between the
Andhras and the Tamils at one period, and
the Pallavas and the Chalukyas in the suc-
ceeding period. Vengadam, ordinarily acces-
sible only with difficulty, has had this further
difficulty added to it, a,nd therefore was not
as much frequented as a place of pilgrimage
as other places within the frontiers of the
Tamil land.

ABSENCE OF RECORDS EXPLAINED. The visit of

a pious pilgrim, a mendicant or a poor family-
man, would not lead to the leaving of records
in the temple. It must be a visit of ruling
families, either royal or feudatory, or powerful
and important officials which would lead to
placing their bequests on record. The reason
stated above would make such visits almost
impossible when the frontier was in dispute.
Then again the practice of recording inscrip-
tions had not yet become so common as we
have already noticed, and therefore the absence
of records of this period in the temple need
not surprise us, and certainly will not justify
the inference that the temple either had ceased
to exist or ceased to be of importance. Either
inference would be unwarranted on the mere

217

HISTORY OF TIRUPAT1

basis of this fact. The two centuries following
proved to be again a period of transition, and
therefore it is that even during this period
we are not likely to have such records in
volume to furnish much information regarding
the temple. We shall have to come into the full
light of the period of Chola ascendency before
we get any useful inscriptional information.

VISHNU-WORSHIP AND TEMPLES TO VISHNU.

Before closing this section, however, we may note
down such inscriptional references as have come
down to us in regard to Vishnu shrines and
Vishnu worship in this region of the country.
The first inscriptional reference, in point of time,
is the record known as the British Museum plates
of Charudevi. * This is a Prakrit charter issued
by the queen-regent in the name of her minor
son Vijayabuddhavarman, sometimes read as
Buddhyankura, son of Maharaja Vijayaskanda-
varman. It is a grant to a temple of Narayaija
at a place called Dalura. The next one is what
is known as the grant of Simhavarman.f The
record opens frankly with an invocation to
Vishnu in the name of Bhagavat, and purports to
have been issued from the camp at Menmatura,
and is a grant of Simhavarman, son of Maharaja

*Epig. Indica, VIII. p. 143.
T ibid, p. 159.

BISTORT Of TONDAMANDALAM

Vishnugopa, who in turn is stated to have been
the son of Maharaja Skandavarman. The next
one is what is known as the Uruvappalli grant * of
Yuva Maharaja Vishnugopavarman who is des*
cribed as a worshipper of Vishnu (Parama Bhaga-
vata). It is a grant to the temple of God Vishiju*
hara at the village of Kandukura. The next one
is what is known as the Mahendravadi inscrip-
tion f of Grunadhara. It is an inscription of the
great Mahendravarman and the shrine is called
Mahendra Vishnugrha on the bank of the Mahen-
dratataka in the city of Mahendrapura, all of these
names having reference to Mahendravadi. The
next one is Mandagappattu J of Vichitrachitta,
another name of Mahendravarman. It refers to
the construction of a cave-temple to Brahma,
Isvara and Vishnu by Mahendravarman. The
next one is the series known as the Vaikuntha-
perumal inscriptions in the temple of Vaikuntha-
perumal constructed by Nandivarman II, Pallava*
malla. § The temple is in Conjeevaram, and the
inscriptions describe the circumstances under
which Nandivarman came to the throne of Kanohi.
The next one is what is known as the

* Ind. Antiquary, V, p. 50.
T-Ejo. Ind. IV, p. 152 ff.
%Ep.Ind. XVII, p. 14.
$ South Ind. In». IV, p. 10 ff .

819

BISTORT OF TIRUPAT1

tSttam plates of KSvijaya-Nandivikramavarman.*
This makes provision for the conduct of worship
in the local Vishnu and oiva temples, and for the
reading of the Mahabharata in the temple. A
similar provision for the reading of the MahabhS-
rata in the temple is referred to in the Kuram
plates of Paramesvaravarinan I, three or four
generations earlier. The next reference is the
inscription of the temple of S.divaraha at Mah5-
balipuram f dated in the 65th year of the same
sovereign Nandivarman II, Pallavamalla. The
next one is what is known as the Tiruvellarai
inscription + of Dantivarman in the Pundari-
iaksha Perumal temple near Trichinopoly. The
next one is an inscription of the 9th year of
Dantipottarasar in the Vaikunthaperumal temple
at Uttaramallur, § which is much nearer. Then
.we come to the Triplicane inscription of the
same sovereign in the garbhagrha of the temple.
This is dated in the '25th year of Dantivarmajn
Maharaja^ and refers to a donation to the
temple. The next one is one of the 21st year of
ithe same king in the Vaikunthaperumal temple

•flf. Ind. Ini. II, p. 517.

T Epig. Colin. 666 of 1922.

I Epig. Ooll. 54L of 1905 Ep Jnd.XL, 156.

§ Ep. Ooll. -74 of 1898,

HISTORY OF TONDAULAtfDALAM

at Uttaramallur.* The next one is a reference in
the 51st year of Vijaya-Dantivikrama to the
Perumanadigal atTiruvijangovil in Tirucchohinur
inKudavur-Nadu,a Hub-division of Tiruvengadak-
kottam. f If this Vijaya-Dantivikrama is the
Dantivarman son of Nandivarman II this would be
the earliest record in this region of the Pallavas.
The next is a record in the Ulagalanda-Perumal
temple at Conjee varam dated in the 18th year of
Nandipottarayar, victor at Tellaru obviously
Nandivarman III. J The next one is in the Venka-
t&sapperumal temple at Tirumukkudal in the
Madhurantakam Taluk of the 24th year of
Nrpatungavarman. § It is a gift of gold to the
temple of Vishnu, which was taken charge of by
the assembly of Siyyapuram, the modern Sivaram
near Conjeevaram. This spread of the inscriptions,
and the number of Vishnu shrines coming under
reference would indicate the prevalence of
Vishnu worship, at least as one of the popular
religions of the country. But in all these there
is still the remarkable omission of Tiruvenga-
4am as a Vishnu shrine, which omission may 'be

*J3p. Gall. 61 of 1896.
btt. 862 of 1904.
. Ooll. 12 of 1-895-; Madras Ohrtetian Gollege Mag.

, p. 402.

179 of 1916.

£81

OF TIRUPATI

explained as being due to causes already
indicated above.

THE TELUGU CHOLAS AND TONDAMANDALAM.

The region with which we are concerned, which,
for convenience, we may call the region of
north Tondamandalain extending northwards
of Kanchi and taking into it all the territory
almost up to the river Krishna, has always been
the debatable frontier of history for the Tamil
country. We have already noticed that it was
so between the Andhras and the Tamils before
the Paliavas came into power. In the days of the
early Paliavas this constituted their territory
principally, their expansion taking place gene-
rally towards the south. With the advent of
the great Paliavas in the latter half of the 6th
century, a change had come over this region
also. In the earlier period this was included
in the great Bana country, Perumbanappadi
as it was called in Tamil, to the west of which
lay the land of the Gangas. But at this period
,a new power sprang up in the region to the
north-wsst which early acquired possession of
-the south- western viceroyalty of the Andhras.
These were the Chalukyas who early acquired
this region and established themselves at their
capitl in Vatapi, the modern Badami in the
BijapSr taluk. Their expansion into thia region
itself was something of an aggression into

HISTORY OF TONDAMANDALAM

territory to which the Pallavas felt themselves
entitled legitimately as the successors of the
Andhras. There sprang up a natural rivalry
between the two powers and the frontier line
moved to and fro according to the exigencies
of the wars between the two. While there were
two great powers well balanced one against the
other and contending for mastery indecisively,
the districts in the middle changed possession ;
but still in their own interests they had to
remain attached to the one power or the other,
but subordinate and feudatory. When these
powers showed a tendency to weaken by the
exhausting wars, the natural tendency to inde-
pendence would show itself more prominently,
and so it did. While the empire of the Chaluk-
yas was weakening towards its fall, and before
the establishment of the powerful dynasty of
the Rashtrakutas in their place, the central
powers seem to have found an occasion to
assert themselves. The BSnas seem gradually
to disappear from the scene, while the bulk of
their territory got absorbed into the empire of
the Pallavas ; the northern portions seem to
have remained in the hands of a feudatory
dynasty which claimed Chola descent. Probably
they sprang from a family of Chola rulers who
might have been planted in the north in early
times ; but they came into prominence only iu

223

HISTORY OF T1BUPATI

the 7th century. Their territory was " a seven
thousand country " with the Cuddapah district
for its centre, and these were known as the
Telugu Cholas later on. They ruled over
Maharajavadi Seven-thousand extending from
Cuddapah eastwards to take into it the district
called Pottappinadu round Kalahasti, the region
with which we are directly concerned. The
territory of these Cholas who at a particular
period came to be more closely associated with
Pottappi, was one new state which comes to
notice when the Pallava power wore away.

RISE OP NEW POWERS ON THIS CHOLA-CHALOKYA
FRONTIER. In the course of a struggle we
already adverted to, between the Chalukyas
and the Pallavas success lay with the Chalukyas
in the earlier period. They were able to take
so much of Pallava territory that the great
Chalukya ruler Pulikesan felt justified in appoint-
ing a younger brother Viceroy over the eastern
districts extending from the Pallava frontier
right on to the Krishna and beyond, thus laying
the foundation, unconsciously it may be, of
the kingdom of the Eastern Chalukyas. When
the Rashtrakuta usurpation took place in the
middle of the 8th century in the Chalukya
kingdom itself, this viceroyalty remained by
itself alone without being absorbed into the
Rashtrakuta territory not only to maintain its

224

HISTORY OF TONDAMANDALAM

independence but to become so aggressive as
to be a source of weakness and danger to the

Rashtrakutas. When after two centuries of

• •

expansion and empire, the Rashtrakutas suffered
a usurpation by a Chalukya feudatory of theirs,
setting up another state and founding the later
Chalukya dynasty, the Eastern Chalukyas had
begun somehow or other to collapse simul-
taneously and become a minor power ; but still
they held the territory immediately north of the
Telugu Cholas, sometimes claiming suzerainty
over them, so that they were oftentimes in
contact with the Pallava frontier in the north.
So during the period when the Pallava power
was actually overthrown and the Cholas esta-
blished themselves as the leading power, these
states were also coming into notice, along
with the Gangas of Mysore proper and of the
Nolambas, a dynasty which claimed relationship
with the Pallavas in the Ceded Districts ; so
that when the Cholas effected the conquest of
Toiidamandalam, they had to deal with all these
powers and bring them one after another under
their influence either by peace or by war to
assure peace to their empire. We shall see that
these, particularly the first two, the Tamil
Cholas and the Chalukyas showing themselves
prominently in the history of the region with
which we are directly concerned.

225

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI
THE CHOLAS BECOME THE LEADING POWER IN

SOUTH INDIA. From the end of the 6th century
onwards, as we have already noted, the Pailavas
had to maintain a two-faced struggle for
existence : one all along their northern frontier
against the Chalukyas, and the other practically
all along their southern frontier against the
Pandyas. Sometimes the southern power and
the northern joined to the great detriment of the
Pailavas in between. Notwithstanding the diffi-
culties of the position and the successful wars
that their enemies conducted against them, the
Pailavas managed to hold their own from the
days of Simhavishnu who laid claim to have
conquered the Cholas down to comparatively
late in the reign of Nandivarman Pallavamalla.
Pallavamalla had to fight hard against the
Pandyas, and siicceeded in maintaining himself
ultimately by perhaps getting into a marriage
alliance with the Rashtrakutas who superseded
the Chalukyas in the middle of the 8th century.
It is from thence that the Pallava decline may be
said to begin. On the northern frontier the
usurpation of the Rashtrakfitas and their pre-
occupations with the rulers of Malva on the one
side and the Eastern Chalukyas on the other,
gave the Pailavas the much-needed respite on
that side. But simultaneously the vigour of the
wars increased. They were able to keep

826

SlSfORY OF TONDAMANDALAM

the Ceylonese out of the struggle, and succeeded
in pressing the Pallavas close till finally the
Pandyas were able to march victoriously through
much of the South Arcot District under their
great ruler Varaguna II. About this time a
civil dissension within the Pandya territory
brought the Ceylonese into the struggle. Taking
advantage of this, the Pallavas managed, with
the assistance of their feudatories all round,
particularly the Gangas, in pressing the Pandyas
south from the banks of the Kaveri which
had become the sceiice of this Pallava-Pandya
wars generally. It is in this engagement that the
name of the Chola power figures on the side of
Pallavas naturally. Very soon after, in fact
within a decade of this victory, the Chola
somehow found the position wholly unsatisfactory
and took upon himself to lead the forces of the
victorious power allied with the Pallavas against
the last Pallava himself, and won a decisive
victory against him, and put himself in the
position of the leading power among the southern
states. The Pandyas, being otherwise occupied
in their home struggles and against the Ceylon
invasions, left these very much to themselves.
The Pallavas who managed to hold their own
even as against the powerful Pandyas seein>
after their last great struggle against the
, to have weakened considerably, perhapg

HISTORY OF TIRUPAT1

owing to the dissensions within the family aided
by the disloyalty or the changeable loyalty of
the feudatories. We are not able to see clearly
the details of the struggle, but the fact that the
inscriptions of the Pallavas are scattered all
along the territory, and three or four Pallava
names occur as rulers without any reference to
a common authority at the centre, seem to
indicate that there were dissensions in the
Pallava succession after Aparajita, or while yet
he was holding rule. This, together with the
disaffection of the feudatory states, naturally
paved the way for the assertion of his authority
by one of the feudatory states, with the prestige
of former greatness and perhaps the present
power, acquired through two centuries of careful
piloting of their policy and the building up of

their resources. The first Chola of this modern

••

dynasty, Vijayalaya stands out thus the most
powerful among the feudatories of the Pallavas
who does not seem yet to proclaim himself as the
successor of the Pallavas in their position as the
leading Southern power. The advent of his son
Aditya puts a new vigour into this kind of a
struggle, and one plain fact which emerges
out of the darkness of the period is the
signal achievement of his, that he brought the
whole of the Tondama^dalam under Chola
authority. That is a clear statement The

HISTORY OF TONDAMANDALAM

achievement of his predecessor fell short of a
supersession of the Pallavas all round although
he established the position of the Cholas as a
rising South Indian power. When Aditya came
into possession of his father's conquests matters
were ripe for him to advance northward and take
possession of the home territory of the Pallavas,
which would set the seal upon the succession
of the Cholas to the leading position of the
Pallavas in South India.

TEMPLE ORGANISATION AS REVEALED IN THE

PALLAVA INSCRIPTIONS. Among the inscriptions
so far published by the Tirupati Devastanam
there are just eleven inscriptions which relate
to the Pallavas. Of these the first two inscrip-
tions refer themselves to the reign of a king
Dantivikramadeva. The first of them belongs
to the 51st year of the reign. This would bring
us to somewhere about A. D. 833-34, that is,
just the generation following that of the latest
Alvar, Tirumangai Alvar. The inscriptions
both of them are gifts of money for the purpose
of maintaining a perpetually burning lamp for
the image of the temple at Tiruvengadam in-
stalled in Tiru-Ilankovil. Ilankovil is a term
we have come across with in the works of the
Mudal Alvars as referring to the temple on the
hill at Vengadam. Whether we should interpret
Ilankovil here also that way may be regarded

229

HISTORY OF TIRVPAM

open to doubt, as the record is in the temple
at Tirucchanur. It is however probable that the
gift was made and put on record here for the
service on the hill shrine. These two inscriptions
already indicate the existence of a complete
organisation of the administration of the country
that we find much more fully described in the
large number of records of the following period.
Here Tirucchohinur is referred to as belonging
to Kudavur Nadu in the Tiruvengadakkottam.
The gift is made by an officer of the Chola
country who made the donation. From this
and a number of inscriptions in the group we
find Tiruvengadakkottam belonging to the Tonda-
mandalam, or, as it was later called Jayan-
kondacholamandalam, divided into four nUdus,
of which Kudavuruadu comprised the villages
round Tirupati, while the villages round the
town of Chandragiri, a few miles to the west
are grouped in Vaikunthavalanadu. Farther
west the country dependent upon Chittoor now,
are grouped together in the division Tuyyanadu.
The country to the east of Tirupati and round
about Kalahasti goes by the name Arrurnadu,
obviously from the Toiidamanarrfir or To^da-
manperarrur, not far from Kalahasti itself on
the river Svarnamukhi. Apart from these we
Bee the temple already under an organisation
under which people at distances could make

960

HISTORY OF TONDAMANDALAM

their donation and deposit their capital with
properly constituted authorities in the con-
fidence that the maintenance of a perpetual
lamp, extending over a long period of time,
would be safely attended to. The village is
already under an organisation with something
like a Secretary (£rl-karyam) to carry on the
actual work. Inscription 4, also from the
Tirucchohinur temple, refers to a deposit in gold
with the Srl-karyawii and the gift was to be
announced publicly and should be maintained
in the register as the ffrniyogam, that is, the
command of the people of the town. This is
intended for the benefit of the god in llankovil,
of the god installed in MantraSala, and the
god in Tiruvengadam. No. 6 is a provision
for feeding two Brahmans in the temple. No. 7
is a record of &aka 820, A. D. 898, and refers
to the revenue puravu of the village of 1,000
kadi, and whatever was due to the government
of the village, giving us clearly to understand
even in this imperfect condition of the record,
that the rural organisation was pretty much the
same as what we find described more fully in
later records. Records 8 and 9 which are
included among the Pallava inscriptions ought
really to belong to the next following period.
These refer to the 14th year of Ko-Parthivendra-
varman, which seems to be the designation

231

HISTORY OF TIRUPAT1

of the Chola prince &ditya II, Karikala, as he
is called. We cannot say for certain that he
lived on to the 14th year of his reign. But
anyhow the number of records that have
recently come to light would show that the
prince Aditya II of the Cholas probably had this
title and held the government of the northern
region under his father Sundara Chola. These
two records relate to gifts by a certain lady,
Samavvai, the wife of a Kadava (Pallava) chief
named Saktivitankan (Saktividangari in Tamil),
a subordinate of Parthivendravarmau. The lady
herself is described as the daughter of a Pallava
Pergadai, which means a high officer under a
Pallava chief, or it may be interpreted as a
Pallava chief who held the high office. Sakti-
vitankan is a name merely, and he was of
Pallava descent who had married apparently, a
Kannada chieftain's daughter who held the
high office under the Pallavas of Pergadai) a
Kannada title like the Tamil Perundaram. The
title of the lady was Kadavan Perundevi, and
the gift is made to " the god standing at
Vengadam ". She made an image of silver with
a number of jewels and ornaments, of which a
list is given, the value of which is set down at
47 kalanju of gold. She made this gift, and, after
having performed an ablution of the God, made
over to the temple authorities, 3,000 kuli of land

232

HISTORY OF TONDAMANDALAM

as measured by the rod of the ghatika (a settle-
ment of learned Brahmans) of 16 spans, making
up three patti of land. These were acquired
from various parties, of which the Sabha of
Tirucchohinur is one. A Lakshmana Nambi, the
manager of a Matha is another. The god of
Ilankovil is the third. These were acquired by
the payment of the prices to the parties
concerned. A further payment was also made
to the Sabha, and the Grod concerned for making
it tax-free, and the land was then made over
to the temple for certain purposes of service
on particular occasions of the year. The proper
carrying out of these is entrusted to the
managers of the Matha in Tiruvengadam. The
lands would have to be taken care of and looked
after by the Sabha, and this disposition was to
last as long as the sun and the moon, and the
whole arrangement is put under the direction
of the Sri Vaishnavas. The next following grant
is altogether similar and refers to the gift of
4,176 kuli of land made over similarly to
the managers of the Matha for use for the
purpose of the festival on the occasion of the
Margali-DvadaSi, the Dvadasi or the 12th day
of the growing moon in the month of Margate,
December — January. The two other records
included in this section really belong to a much
later period though they were grants by Pallava

233
30

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

rulers, and may be held over for a later stage
for consideration. These two should perhaps be
so treated; but, as coming so close to the Pallavas
and as indicating fully the organisation at
the time, it is of advantage to take them over
here. It will thus be seen that from these few
inscriptions we find that the temple is provided
already, in the days of Dantivarman Pallava
of the Triplicane inscriptions, with the organisa-
tion for the management which we find in
regard to these temples generally in the period
following. Not only is the temple provided with
the requisite machinery of management, but
we find already the administration of the
division in full swing with the assemblies of the
villages, with various departments of accounts,
the Sabha managing lands, selling them to
parties, taking payment and making them tax-
free, and administering them as trust lands for
the purposes for which they were dedicated
by the donors. We could not well regard the
temple organisation as having been just then
brought into existence, as we find it in these
records. Notwithstanding therefore the paucity
of information, we would be justified in taking
it that the organisation and worship in the
temples had already been sufficiently well
established and long in use.

CHAPTER X.

INSCRIPTIONS OP THE CHOLA DYNASTY.
CHOLA INSCRIPTIONS IN TIRUCCHANUR : PARAN-

TAKA I AND PARANTAKA ii. Passing on to the
dynasty of the Cholas we have two records of
Parantaka I, both of them in the|temple at Tiruc-
chanur. We have already mentioned before
that, on the establishment of the Chola power after
the overthrow of the last Pallava by Vijayalaya,
it took another campagin under his son and
successor Aditya to bring the whole of the Tonda-
mandalam under the Chola authority, and that
this Chola ruler Aditya successfully brought the
whole of it under the authority of the Cholas.
From one of his titles, it is inferable that he died
at Tondamanajrur near Kalahasti, probably in a
campaign in the northernmost border of this
territory. We may infer from this that, before
his death, he had successfully brought the whole
of the Tondamandalam under his authority
including the most northerly Tiruvengadak-
kottam. His son and successor Parantaka
came to the throne in A. D. 906, and had a long
reign of 48 years which would take his reign to
A. D. 9B2-3. Under Parantaka therefore we
may take it that Tondamandalam formed part

HISTORY OF TIRDPATI

of the Chola empire. The existence of two of his
records in Tirucchanur is not surprising. The
first of them belongs to his 29th year, that is,
about A. D. 935. The document refers to the
agreement by the Sabha of Tirucchanur to
burn a perpetual lamp in the temple as long
as the sun and moon last, that is, for all time,
on behalf of an officer apparently, who paid the
money. This officer is described as belonging
to Malainadu (Chera country) and to Kodungalur
(Cranganore). He deposited 40 kalanju of gold
as weighed by the current weight of the town.
The whole charge is placed under the protection
of the devotees of our Lord God (Emberuman
Adiyar). The other record relating to the reign
is again for the burning of a lamp. It is too far
gone to make anything more out of it. The two
records already referred to as belonging to a
Parthivendravarman, the son of Parantaka II,
indicate that the state of things that the two
inscriptions of Parantaka I exhibit, continued
pretty much the same under his successors for
two or three generations, so that we may take
it that, notwithstanding the wars of which we
have records in this part, the Chola authority
was maintained more or less continuously.
Parantaka's queen was a Chera princess, and
that an inhabitant of the Chera kingdom should
have come all the way from Kodungalur to

286

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE CHOLA DYNASTY

make this charity would not be anything
surprising. This Kodungaluran was probably
an officer in the service of the Chola monarch,
and felt called upon to make this charity in
the course of his official tours. In this and
the earlier inscriptions, the place is called
Tirucchohinur as the name of the place. One
would infer from this that the name was derived
from Jogimallavararn, a part of Tirucchohinur,
the Jogi being transformed in Tamil Sohu.
Sanskrit Yoga assumes the form Yogu in Tamil ;
in fact the term in that form occurs in the
Prabandha, and a further transformation from

that into Sohu is not impossible. But the
possibility is not enough in this case. We must
know first of all that Jogimallavaram had been
a place known by that name earlier than
Tiruchukanur. That place seems to be called
Tiru-Parasaresvaram corrupted into Tiru-Pala-
dhisvaram. We should also know beforehand
that the place came to be called Jogimallavaram
in Telugu, and when and why it was so called.
The Pauranic association of the one place with
Parasara and the other with his grandson Suka
both of them Rishis, would be quite all right.
But we have to demonstrate that the more
popular names had the anterior vogue before
making this important inference. My recent
visit to the temple goes to confirm what

237

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

I thought was the true explanation. The oiva
temple is actually a few furlongs from
Tirucchanur, and the temple is much shrunk
from its original dimensions in a hamlet
containing a few houses. The sanctum and the
vestibule in front are all that are left over, and
serve as the general stow-away for all the extra
things of the few houses, that of the temple
priest and a few others, immediately adjacent
to the temple. I found a few cattle also being
stalled quite close. The sanctum does contain
the linyam over the usual pedestal. I was
pointed out that there was a representation of
a lingam and a yogi performing penance just in
the pedestal. Siva is always represented by the
linga ; what the particular murta or figure is
intended to be has necessarily to be indicated
otherwise, and the indication is given in this
fashion in one of the cornices in the stone
pedestal. That gives the name Yogimallavaram
for the place, that is, Grod Siva presenting
himself to the Yogi Arjuna in the form of a malla
or wrestler, to test his strength before granting
him the boon of Diva's Pasupata, for which he
performed penance. If this is the murta
intended to be indicated there according to the
temple tradition, the name Yogimallavaram
among the people would be perfectly clear.
While therefore one might admit that this

238

PADIKAYAL GOPURAM, TlRUMALAI ( To fact we 239 )

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE OHOLA DYNASTY

designation, having regard to the character of
the image, is possible from the beginning of the
temple, it is always open to sacerdotal tradition
to give the temple a name, even at the outset,
as Parasaresvaram, so long as the local
tradition connected the locality with Parasara,
and Siva's presence there is taken to be due to
the penance of this venerable Bishi in the
locality. It is quite possible that the two villages
were connected with each other, as even now the
space between the two is not worth mentioning.
They might have gone together into the same
unit for administrative purposes.

INSCRIPTIONS OF RAJARAJA I A. D. 985-1016.

Passing down we coine to the reign of Kajaraja
of whom we have a number of records, namely
five, Nos. 14 to 18 of the Devastanam Inscrip-
tions, Volume 1. Of these a certain number
happen to be copies made of the older inscriptions
under the orders of Vlra Narasimha Yadavaraya
when the inner shrine of the Venkatesvara
temple was either repaired or renewed by a
certain Tiruppullani Dasa. We shall refer to
this fact again. But for the moment we are
concerned with the records as documents
referable to the reign of Kajaraja I. The first
of these, No. 14, refers to the 16th year of
Kajaraja, that is, the year A. D. 1001, and
registers a gift* of an ornamental plate for the

239

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

forehead for God T iruvengadadeva by a Devi
Ammanar, meaning queen. She is described as
a daughter of a Cheraman, a Chera king, the
wife of a king who died in the golden hall,
Ponmalikai. This designation is given to Paran-
taka II, Sundara Chola, father of Rajaraja I, who
had married a Chera princess, although she was
not the mother of Rajaraja. She lived in the
reign of Rajaraja, and apparently as a respected
member of his household as the queen-mother
for 31 years at least. The gift referred to
weighed 52 kalanju of gold, and had set in it
four rubies, and six diamonds and 28 pearls.
As if to make clear any doubts, she is called
Parantakadevi Amman, the queen of Parantaka.
No. 15 also refers to Rajaraja I, and gives a part
of the historical introduction which had become
the fashion in his reign ; and this document
contains one of the praSastis (meykklrtti) associ-
ated with Rajaraja Fs inscriptions, and details
his conquests. It refers to the gift by an officer
who belonged to the Chola country, and to
Svurkkurram on the southern side of the Kaveri.
His name is given as Arulakki, with an official
title Muvendavelan. The rest of the inscription
is gone. No. 16 seems to refer to the 29th year,
and has reference to the donation of a perpetual
lamp to Tiruvengadamudaiyan, the God on the
hill. There is the figure 29 which cannot be

240

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE CHOLA DYNASTY

said to refer to the year of the ruler, as it is not
quite in place for that. The next following is
an inscription which comes from Tirucchaniir
where the same officer paid 40 kalanju of gold,
apparently for the burning of a perpetual lamp.
Even that document is imperfect. The next one
belongs to the 2«*rd year of Rajaraja, and is found
in the Parasaresvara temple at Jogimallavaram.
This is a gift by a Brahman officer of the Chola
country who belonged to Nenmali Nadu, and the
Brahman village of Aruvaikkovai. His name
is given as Kodinambi Angadi with a title
Gangaikonda Sola Brahma Marayan (Maharaja
Gangaikonda Chola Brahmana). He deposited
26 kalanju of gold weighed by the measure,
specifically in use in regard to charitable gifts,
for the purpose of an ablution to God on the
occasions of the Uttarayana Sankaranti, the
first of day of Uttarayana every year coming
about the middle of January. These inscriptions
of Rajaraja refer to donations by his officers to
the God on the hill, and to the Vishnu and £iva
temples at Tirucchaniir. Two of them attempt to
record the official introduction, one by a plain
recital, that is No. 15, and the other, No. 18,
by a mere reference in the terms " with the usual
prefatory meykklrtti ", or historical recital of his
glorious deeds. That is so far as the reign of
Rajaraja is concerned, A. D. 985 to A. D. 1016.

241
ftl

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI
RECORDS OF RAJENDRA CHOLA I: A. D. 1011-1044.

Then follow two inscriptions of Rajendra Choja,
his son. One of them from the temple on the
hill, and the other at the foot of the hill in
the Kapilesvara temple. This does not contain
the praSasti or the official laudatory passage,
and begins straightaway with the 7th year
of Rajendra, the number of days in the
year, omitted probably by inadvertence of the
sculptor who engraved the inscription. That
is, however wrongly read as the 7th day of
the first year. The usual way of specifying
these dates is, first to give the year, and then
proceed to mention the date. The record here
therefore mentions the year 7, followed by the
day. The number which has to follow this is
omitted. This would correspond to the year
A. D. 1018. This is a very interesting document
and refers to an official enquiry conducted in
regard to the arrangements for the conduct
of worship in the temple of the God at
Tiruvengadam. The officer concerned is the
lord of Kottamangalam. Tiruvengadakkottam is
here referred to as a part of Perumbanappadi
in Jayankondacholamandalam. He held the
enqiiiry in Tiruchukanur belonging to Kuda-
vurnadu, and Tiruchukanur is here described
as a devadanam, gift to God. The officer held
his court in the front hall of a building that

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE GHOLA DYNASTY

he presented on a previous occasion, and held
an inquisition into the management of the
temple affairs. He made the enquiry from an
officer of the survey and classification (vakai
§eyvadti) of land of Kudavurnadu. He is des-
cribed as a Sirudanattu Perumakan, which would
mean the chief official belonging to the class
Sirudanawij and his name is given as Kadappan-
kodaiyan, which would ordinarily mean belong-
ing to Kadappan-kudai, the name of a village
or a town, and the servants of the temple
Devar Kanmi. It came out on the enquiry
that the Sabha of Sirumundiyam, another village
gifted to the temple, took possession of the
gold offered, according to inscriptions recorded
in stone, and agreed to burn 24 perpetually
burning lamps including one to be burnt with
camphor. Of these the Sabha of Tirumundiyam
was burning only two lamps and could not
burn the rest according to agreement, and
requested that 20 kalanju belonging to the
capital be recovered from the inhabitants of
Tirumundiyam, and, along with three more
kalanju from the temple treasury, should be
made over to the Sabha of Tiruchukanur, so
that they may, without fail, burn the total
number of lamps in the temple on the hill. This
was the decision given by the officer (Adhikarf)
and this decision was accepted by the Sabha

243

HISTORY OF T1BUPAT1

of Tirumundiyam, which was again accepted by
the treasury of the temple at Tiruchukauur, and
the requisite number of lamps was undertaken to
be burnt by the officials of the temple and those
engaged in the religious service to the temple
as long as the sun and moon should last. This
was the accepted decision of the Sri Vaishnavas.
The other record refers to the Kapilesvaram
temple at the foot of the hill known as the
Kapilatirtham ; and refers to the raising of a
building by the Lord of Kottur with the title
Rajendra Chola Brahma-Marayaii with the official
title Munayadaraiyan. From this time on to the
date of Kulottunga I we have no records forth-
coming. This would leave an interval between
the year A. D. 1018 and the third year of
Kulottunga I, A. D. 107 8, the date of the earliest
record of the ruler, which would mean a period
of about half a century.

INSCRIPTIONS OP KULOTTUNGA I, THE CHALUKYA-
CHOLA : AND HIS SON VIKRAMA CHOLA. With the

inscription No. 21 in the Parasaresvara temple
at Jogimallavaram, we come upon the reign
of Kulottunga Chola, whose reign period is
counted from A. D." 1070 to A. D. 1148. This
Kulottunga, as he called himself afterwards,
was a prince of the dynasty of the Eastern
Chalukyas, and was the son of the Chola
princess Madhurantaki, the daughter of Rajendra

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE CHOLA DYNASTY

Chola I, who was married to the Eastern
Chalukya Rajaraja, who was again the son of
Rajaraja's daughter married to the Eastern
Chalukya prince Vimaladitya, so that Kulot-
tunga was a Chola Chalukya prince, heir to the
throne of the Eastern Chalukyas by birth,
and became king of the Cholas by an act
of usurpation. He was a remarkable Chola
sovereign and is counted among the great Cholas
deservedly. It is, however, noteworthy that,
in the records round Tirupati and in several
others of his earlier years, he is given all the
Chalukya titles, some of which are titles
of feudatory princes. Among them peculiarly
the title " Samadhigata Panchamahasabda ", was
assumed by the Eastern Chalukyas from the
time of Kubja Vishnuvardhana, the first member
of this dynasty. It began as a title of the
feudatories entitled to go about with the band
playing, the band being composed of musical
instruments, the sounds produced emanating
in five ways, according to the ancient classifi-
cation of the various instruments constituting
the band. The privilege of going about with
the band playing was generally conferred upon
those newly raised to dignity, as a mark of
distinction. The first of these, No. 21 of Volume I
describes him as a Mahamandalesvara (lord
of a great division only), as an ornament of the

245

HISTORY OF TIRUPAT1

Chalukya race, as the lord of Vengi, as the
beloved of the Godavari river, and the supreme
lord of Kanupakka, etc. All these my be
regarded as peculiarly Eastern Chahikya titles-
What follows is a matter for personal distinction,
the fearsome one with the use of the sword
(Karavala Bhairava). Then follows the title
Venkatanatha Purandhara which seems to imply
that he was a ruler over the region dominated
by Venkatanathapura (Tirupati). He is said
further on to have destroyed the stronghold of
Katakapura, probably Cuttack in Orissa, the
capital of the ancient Kalingas. With all this
follows what is generally a feudatory title
Mahamandalesvara. He is given the further
title Maharaja $ri Vlra Rajendra Chola, and
refers itself to the third year. He is given the
title Rajendra Choladeva, to which sometimes
is added the prefix Vlra, which, in the few
instances in which it occurs in his age, ought
to be interpreted as a mere attribute meaning
valiant, and not as forming a part of the name,
if for no other reason, for the simple reason
that this is not uniformly given as his title, as
in the case of the uncle whom he succeeded,
Chola Vira Rajendra. The record is nothing
more than a grant made for the purpose of
maintaining two perpetual lamps. No. 22 is a
record in Tirupati which is too far gone to make

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE OHOLA DYNASTY

anything out of, except that it mentions
Rajendradeva referring in all probability to
this Rajendra Kulottunga. The next following
document which is in the Siva temple at Jogi-
mallavaram is a document of importance, as it
gives one of those usual praSastis of Kulottunga
recounting all his exploits both as a prince and
as a ruler. It is a record of the 24th year of
Kulottunga which would mean A. D. 1094. It
is a grant made by somebody for burning
four perpetual lamps in the temple for which,
at the rate of 32 cows a lamp, 128 cows were
taken possession of by a certain number of Saiva
Brahmans engaged in service in the interior
sanctum of the temple ; and that is the purpose
of the record. The province concerned is
described as Rajendracholamandalam instead
of the usual Tondamandalam or Jayankonda-
cholamandalarn, and the sub-divisions are
mentioned as usual. No. 24 is a record of the
same temple. The first part of it is gone. It
refers itself to the 35th year, and records a grant
made by one Kannan Vasudevan who is given
the title Sola Brahma- Mar ay an, who destroyed
darkness and acquired something by his own
strength. He acquired a certain piece oi land in
the devadana village Munnaippun^i, otherwise
called Sivapadasekharanallur by paying five
madai of gold, and getting the particular bit of

247

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

land tax-free. The importance of the record
consists however in the procedure that is indi-
cated. This Kannan Vasudevan made the
request of the superintendent of the Magani, a
small revenue sub-division. He apparently got
the order from the king himself who, by word
of mouth, sanctioned the transformation of the
village into a tax-free temple-gift land, in
evidence whereof a number of officers of the
settlement department affixed their signatures.
Seven or eight such names are mentioned in
detail. The land became a free-gift land to
the temple from the 35th year of Kulottunga
onwards. The next one No. 25 comes from the
same temple and refers itself to the 41st year of
Kulottunga. The record is in an imperfect state
of preservation and refers to the sale of a certain
bit of land to the Mahadeva, that is, to the
temple. Among the other details mentioned are
the temple, the digging of a tank in the near
vicinity of Kalahastlsvara. The signatures are
also gone. No. 26 is in the temple on the hill.
But enough of it is left to show that it begins
with one of the praSastis of Kulottunga whose
name itself is mentioned. No. 27 is in the same
temple and the bit of the pra§asti itself clearly
refers unmistakably to the reign of Kulottunga.
It refers to the gift of milk and curds for the God
by a lady, the wife of an officer who had a title

248

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE OHOLA DYNASTY

beginning Rajendra. The interesting point to
note in this is the God in the temple is referred
to as " Tiruvayppadi Tirumalai Alvar ", which
would mean the lord of Tiruvayppadi (cowherd
village) on the hill. It is a clear recognition in
the reign of Kulottunga I that the God was
regarded as an aspect of Krishna-Vishnu, as by
the early Alvars. Unfortunately the precise
date is not available in the record that the temple
on the hill was recognised to be a temple of
Krishna on the hill. No. 28 again in Tirupati
can be taken to be a record of Kulottunga. The
next following one is also his, but there is
nothing of importance in it, and so also No. 30.
Almost the same might be said of 31 and 32. In
these records of Kulottunga amounting in all to
12 records, we are given the indication that, in
the days of Kulottunga, the region was directly
under the Chola government undoubtedly, from
the days while yet Kulottunga was only a
Chalukya prince down to a comparatively late
period in his reign. The shrines in the locality,
a Vishnu shrine at Tirupati, the Siva shrine
at Tiruparasaresvaram near Tirucchanur, the
temple even of Kalahasti find mention. The
Siva temple at Tiruparasaresvaram comes in for
great benefaction. There is only one record of
his successor Vikrama Chola, who came to the
throne in A. D. 1118 and ruled for about 17 or

249

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

18 years, so that his reign period would be
A. D. 1118 to A. D. 1135. In this one record,
Vikrama Chola is given all the Chalukya titles
almost exactly as in the records of Kulottunga,
even though the record happens to be one of his
16th year, that is, A. D. 1134. The division is
again referred to as Rajendrasolamandalam, and
relates to a gift to the Tiruparasaresvaram temple
of oil for lighting the lamps on the occasion of
the festival in the month of VaikaSi, May — June.
The piece of land in gift is referred to as being'to
the north of the Devadana village, Munnaippa<Ji.

During the period therefrom, A. D. 1017 to
A. D. 1135, we have a fairly large number of
inscriptions referring to the temple on the hill,
and the Siva and Vishnu temples at Tirucchanftr
as also a reference to the great Siva shrine in
the neighbourhood, Kalahasti. We may there-
fore take it that these were certainly all of them
in existence and received donations from various
people, some of the more important donors
being actually officers of government under the
Gholas. The more important donations seem,
however, to have been to the Siva temple
at Yogimallavaram (Tiruparasaresvaram), and
hardly any important one by way of major dona-
tions of large gifts or additions to buildings,
etc., to the Vishnu temple on the hill, or at

360

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE OHOLA DYNASTY

Tirucchanur. Being more or less donations by
private individuals we can hardly argue that it
indicates partiality, one way or the other, of the
government. The fact may, however, bear the
inference that enthusiasm for Siva worship was
rising perhaps among the people generally, but
certainly among those occupying positions in life.
On the basis of these facts it would be difficult to
go further and say that there was anything like
a movement of a Saiva character which could do
damage to Vishnu worship and Vishnu temples as
such. There is one noteworthy point, however,
that, since the days of the great Gangaikonda
Chola, the region seems to have passed out of
view of inscriptional information for half a
century, and then when it does come into view,
it comes into view as the territory of the Chola-
Chalukya prince Kulottunga, and the character
of his earlier inscriptions in the locality would
seem to warrant the impression that it ceased to
be, if not formally, at any rate practically,
intimately associated with the Chola empire as
such. We might perhaps account for it by the
keen contest between the Cholas and the Chaluk-
yas of the west during the period.

We stated already that it was the policy of
Rajaraja to bring about peace between the
empire and its neighbours on all frontiers with &

251

BISTORT OF T1BUPAT1

view to the coming struggle between the Cholas

and the Chalukyas, the two imperial powers face

to face on the somewhat indefinite frontier of the

north-west of the Cholas, and south and

south-east of the Chalukyas. The peace with

the Eastern Chalukyas sealed by a marriage

alliance, probably had this coming great struggle

in view ; but that Rajaraja anticipated this and

made his arrangements accordingly is not left

to us in doubt at all, as he put his son and

heir-apparent the Grangaikonda Chola in charge

of this north-western frontier and the war,

thereby creating him a sort of a superior viceroy,

not so much in charge of the territory, but in

charge of the war on this frontier. Rajendra,

the Gangaikonda Chola had to do a good deal

of fighting on this frontier, and the war continued

almost with the same vigour under his sons,

three of whom succeeded one after the other on

the Choja throne, before the Ghola-Chalukya

Prince Kulottunga, we might almost say

usurped the empire. During this period of war,

the frontier districts, among them the region

with which we are directly concerned, must

have been constantly liable to attacks and

invasions, and required special provision to guard

against the enemy incursions; and one way of

doing that perhaps was to include it in the

iphere of the wardens of ifce northern frontier

852

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE CHOLA DYNAST?

of the Cholas, the more so, as that particular
frontier was in charge of a dynasty of rulers
intimately related to the Chola family. It is not
so much the transfer of this division or Maydalam
to the Eastern Chalukyas, as a mere transfer
of charge and the guardianship to whomso-
ever was in charge of the southern portion of the
Eastern Chalukya territory. It seems to be thus
that the Chola-Chalukya prince Kulottunga came
to be in charge ot it in the earlier years of his
reign as these districts were a centre of the wax
zone. We can understand from the fact that the
immediate siiccessor of the Grangaikonda Chola
had to march across the whole of the Mysore
territory, which then was more or less under
Chola control, to Karnpli in the Bellary district,
not far from Hampi where are the ruins of
Vijayanagar, and thence all the way through
the Chalukya territory proper to Kolhapur in
the heart of the Chalukya dominions. He fell in
battle and his younger brother, who brought up
reinforcements and beat back the enemy, had to
fight hard to maintain his position. When he
was succeeded by Virarajendra, he had to
continue the same war ; but we find that that war
had to be continued over more extensive fields.
Virarajendra claims a victory over the Kuntalas,
the Western Chalukyas, at Kudalsangamam,
wherefrom he is said to have marched success-

259

HISTORY OF TIRUPAT1

fully to Bezwada (Vijayavadi, as it is called in
these inscriptions) and went further north. We
find inscriptions of about this time in the Telugu
country proper at Draksharama, and elsewhere in
the neighbourhood, of the prince Vikramaditya,
son of the Chalukya emperor Somesvara who
was the reigning monarch. There is also the
additional fact that the Chalukyas about this
time, appear to have created a new viceroyalty in
charge of a prince of the blood round the region
of Kampli. These facts taken together would
indicate clearly that the war between the two
empires was quite as active in the region across
Tiruvengadakkottam of the Tondamandalam.
It would therefore be nothing surprising if the
peaceful activity of people moving about on
their normal official duties, holding enquiries
and making donations, by the way, to temples
and recording them in inscriptions remain
suspended. That perhaps is the reason why
between the comparatively early date in the reign
of Rajendra, the Grangaikonda Chola, down to
the third year of prince Kulottunga, we find no
inscriptions in this locality, and this distraction
must have continued even when Kulottunga had
succeeded as the Chola emperor. Kulottunga
and his contemporary the Chalukya Vikrama-
ditya VI had both of them alike to make war
the prime concern of their policy. It was rather

254

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE CHOLA DYNASTY

late in their reigns, after a continuous struggle
lasting for a whole generation as it were, that
they realised that this war was likely to prove
interminable, and as such detrimental to the
actual interests of everybody concerned. Then
they came to an understanding, implicit or
expressed, we do not know for certain, to let the
Mysore plateau remain with the Chajukyas ; and
the two emperors contented themselves with
keeping within their own frontiers and pursuing
the arts of peaceful administration, for the
remaining period of their lives. Kulottunga
died somewhere about the year A. D, 1120 and
Vikramaditya followed six years after. While
there was a succession of capable rulers in the
Chola empire, the Chalukya empire was not
lucky to the same extent, and gradually
weakened away towards its decline. Vikrama
Chola had to be a viceroy of the Cholas in the
ancestral territory of the Eastern Chalukyas,
from where he had to march south to take over
the Chola empire. All this period therefore
was a period when the empire was preoccupied
with war.

255

CHAPTER XL

THE AGE OP THE VAISHNAVA ACHARYAS.

INTERVAL OF ABSENCE OF INSCRIPTIONS. The

period extending from the death of Vikrama
Chola down to the early years of the reign of
Rajaraja III, must have been for this region a
period of the rise to prominence of the feudatory
chieftains to power and authority. There were
two sets of those who play a prominent part in
the later years of Kulottunga III and throughout
the reign of Rajaraja III, becoming independent
rulers of the locality afterwards. Whether we
could consider this activity on the part of the
feudatories gradually to make themselves inde-
pendent, is the actual cause of the absence of
inscriptions, we cannot say for certain ; but it
seems likely, as, early in the reign of Vikrama
Chola, that region was to some extent distracted
between loyalty to the Cholas and the Western
Chalukyas. That disturbance must have been
the cause of the ultimate establishment of
independence by the local chieftains. This was
made possible by the preoccupation of the
imperial Cholas with their wars in the south,
and the activity of the Hoysalas, who acquired

256

THE AGE OF THE VAI8HNAVA ACHARTA8

a firm hold on the Chola territory in the period
immediately following.

THE ACHARYA NADAMUNI, THE FIRST ACHARYA :

The two centuries since the end of the Pallava
ascendency early in the 10th century, almost
down to the beginning of the period with which
we are concerned happen to be the period of
active life of the Vaishnava Acharyas, as distinct
from the Slvars. The teachings of the 5lvars
could not have been anything particularly
systematic, and even the works which have come
down to us could not have been known so widely
in those early times. There is, however, a
tradition which finds mention in the Guruparam-
paraSj the traditional accounts of the lives of
these Alvars and Scharyas, that Tirumangai
5.1var during his life-time arranged for the
recitation of these once a year on the occasion
of a particular festival in Srirangam in
December — January of each year. Apart from
the mere work of individual teachers, teaching a
few pupils of theirs, there seems to have been no
particular provision for the propagation of the
Vaishnava teaching in any organised form. The
need, however, seems to have been felt to some
extent, and provision had to be made sooner or
later. The credit for organising such is due to
the first Vaishnava Acharya known by the name

267
33

HISTORY OF T1RUPATI

Nadamuni. He seems to have belonged to the
village of Mannarkovil in the South Arcot
District where he lived most of his life, spending
some time also in the adjoining village called
Kurukaikkavalappan Kovil in the South Arcot
District, just about a mile off the Chola capital
Gangaikondasolapuram. He probably was a
practitioner of Vaishnavism, and a teacher of
local reputation like so many others. It so
happened that a set of Vaishnava pilgrims were
going about worshipping in the Vaishnava
shrines, and they came to the latter place where
Nadamuni was engaged for the time being in
teaching his pupils, and practising Yoga. When
he heard them recite just one of the tens of the
Tiruvaymoli of Nammalvar, he was struck with
the verses, and he asked the pilgrims to repeat
them ; and, having learnt from them the ten, he
also learnt from them that it was only a ten
taken from out of the 1,000 of Nammalvar, and
the pilgrims heard it recited in the temple at
Kumbhakonam. They learnt it off from there
arid knew no more about the work or the author.
Nadamuni was naturally curious to secure the
whole if possible, as he had heard probably of
Nammalvar and of his Tiruvaymoli. He went
down to Kumbhakonam, and got from there no
more information than he already possessed and
the one ten which he had already taken down

858

¥HE AGE Of THE VAISHKAVA AGHASTAS

or got by rote from the pilgrims. He learnt
however that it was possible that at Nammalvar's
native place, ilvar Tirunagari as it is called, in
the Tinnevelly District, it is possible he could
find people who knew the whole of the work.
So he started on his pilgrimage to Alvar Tiru-
nagari. After futile attempts to gain information
from anybody who knew anything about the
whole work, he went into the temple and sat in
Yogasamadhi in front of the sacred tamarind tree
under which Nammalvar is said to have practised
Yoga. He then chanced upon some one who
had learnt this from Madhurakavi, the direct
disciple of Nammalvar, and he is said to have
secured the whole work. He brought it over to
Srirangam and there revived the annual festival
instituted by Tirumangai Alvar, which since had
fallen into desuetude owing to the impossibility
of bringing the image of Nammalvar all the way
owing to heavy rains and floods. Having done
this, he started on a pilgrimage to the holy
shrines. It is said in the Guruparamparas that
he travelled north as far as the Himalayas
visiting some of the Vishnu shrines in these
regions, and passing down southwards there*
from, he visited Ahobalam, and then TirupatL
He went away from Tirupati feeling that the
arrangements for worship there were not as good
as they should be. We are told nothing further

959

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

than this in his life so far as Nadamuni is
Concerned. He is said to have been born in
the year of Kali 3684, which would mean
A. D. 582-83. This obviously is too early a dating
for him, having regard to the dates of the others
given in this very account, if nothing else.
There is further the fact that the Guruparamparas
have to make up the dating in a way which
perhaps gives us an idea roughly of the actual
period in which he lived. He is said to have
been 340 years in Toga to acquire the Tiruvay-
moli from Nammalvar himself direct. The 340
years, or say roundly three or four centuries,
perhaps prove the gap between the Alvar and
the first Acharya Nadamuni. Perhaps this may
indicate roughly the time in which he flourished,
some time early in the 10th century A. D.

THE SUCCESSORS OP NADAMUNI : ALAVANDAR AND

RAMANUJA. His grandson Alavandar Yamunait-
turaivar or Yamunacharya), is said to have
been born almost at the fag end of the life of
Nadamuni, and lived on to see Bamanuja as a
young man, made a similar pilgrimage to the
shrines of holy reputation among the Vaishijavas
and visited Tirupati similarly. He found appa-
rently the same defect in regard to the arrange-
ments for worship, particularly the fact that there
was no satisfactory arrangement, such as, provid-
ing for a; flower garden, for the-supply of flowers,

260

THE AGE OF THE VAI8HNAVA AOHARYAS

etc., for the daily worship of God in the temple.
As that was considered one of the necessary
objects for the offer of worship, he wanted to
know if any among his disciples would brave the
rigours of a life on the hill, and do what was
necessary to provide this essential need of daily
worship. One of his own grandsons who had
attained to manhood and had reached the stage
of householder volunteered for this service, and
moved himself away with two of his young and
unmarried sisters to set up life on the hill. This
is Tirumalai Nambi, as he is called, and that is
perhaps more a title than an actual name. He
settled down there, laid out a garden, and
cultivated such flowers and plants required for
worship, and further took it upon himself to
provide water daily for the ablution of the image
from the waterfall some distance away on the
hill known by the name Akasaganga. One of the
young sisters that he took with him was married
to one Kesava Somayaji of Sriperumbudur.
The offspring of this marriage was Ramanuja.
Ramanuja's date of birth, according to the tradi-
tional account of his life, is Kali 4118, A. D. 1017.
The other date given of course is Saka 937 by a
chronogram. So Ramanuja's life would be cast
in the llth century mostly, extending, it maybe,
into the 12th to some extent. Among the
cardinal events of Ramanuja's' life happen to be

261

BISTORT OF TtRtiPATl

at least two visits to Tirupati which in the nature
of the case would be nothing very nntunial,
although according to other accounts, he is said
to have paid as many as four visits. We shall
have to consider this matter in some detail later.
One of his visits was for the purpose of being
taught the Ramaya$a by his own uncle Tirumalai
Nambi, who had received this exposition from
Alavandar specifically. During another visit, he
is said to have got the local ruler to build the
GSvindaraja shrine at Lower Tirupati, and set up
the image of Govindaraja, which was cast out of
its place in the great temple at Chidambaram into
the sea. During the time of Ramanuja, and while
he was still teaching in orirangam, he felt the need
again of an enterprising young man going and
settling down in the temple for the flower
service, probably because Tirumalai Nambi was
growing too old for it, although the Guruparam-
paras do not state it so. One of his disciples
who happened to be an arrival from the district
round Tirupati volunteered for this service, and
this person is Anandalvar, who figures in the
accounts of the Tirupati temple, of which one
prominent one is the Venkaffichala Itihasamala by
one Anantarya. We shall examine this work in
some little detail later. In the time of Ramanuja
there seems to have been considerable improve-
ment in the kind of organisation and the requisite

862

THE AGE OF THE VAISHNAVA AGHAEYAS

agency for looking after the general management
of the temple which already existed, and for
the conduct of worship in the proper form.
For this period we have some inscriptional
information also which we shall have to consider
together with the traditional information.

MANAGEMENT OF TEMPLES AND ORGANISATION OF
WORSHIP; THE BUSINESS OP WORSHIPPERS. In

these accounts of the lives of the Acharyas,
Tirupati gets to be mentioned as already a holy
place of reputation which the Acharyas felt
called upon to visit in the course of their
pilgrimages. There is no mention of any ruler
of the locality, either governors under a higher
or a suzerain authority, or even rulers of the
locality who claim to be ruling on their own
account. Temple worship and provision there-
for seem to have been more or less a matter for
the devotees to provide for, and it seems to be
only private generosity, whether of the ordinary
people or those in authority, that made provision
for this. In this period that point must be
clearly noted. When the assistance of local
rulers was sought, and when these rulers
intervened, there again in the great majority of
cases, the donations, made by these very rulers
for various purposes, seem to have been made
in their personal capacity and not as rulers
exercising authority, except where they interfered

263

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

to correct a wrong or do justice between different
parties disputing for privileges or other matters
connected with the temple.

RAMANUJA'S CONNECTION WITH TIRUPATI ACCORD"
ING TO SRI VENKATACHALA ITIHASAMALA. The

above account is as far as the Guruparamparas
go. But Sri Venkatachala Itihasamala, a work
compiled by one Anantarya contains a detailed
account of Ramanuja's doings in Tirupati.
Ramanuja's connection with Tirupati may be
said to begin with Tirumalai Nambi, whose sister
Ramanuja's mother was. As was stated above,
on the authority of the Guruparampara account,
Tirumalai Nambi went and settled down at
Tirupati with his two young unmarried sisters
for doing service to the Grod on the hill, as
desired by his grandfather and teacher
5lavandar. He remained there almost as a
permanent resident, and it is from there that the
hand of his sister was sought and obtained by
Ramanuja's father whose own native place was
Sriperumbudur, not far from Tirupati in point of
distance. Apart from such visits as he might
have made on occasions of domestic functions
where the mother's presence may have been
called for in Tirupati, the first visit of Ramanuja
to Tirupati, in his character as a Vaishnava
teacher at all, was when he went there to get
from his uncle the esoteric teaching of the

264

THE AGE OF THE VAISHNAVA ACHARYAS

Ram ay ana as one among the several cardinal
items of learning that he had to acquire to
equip himself for the high office of the chief
Vaishnava teacher of the day. On that occasion
he is said to have stayed for a year with Tiru-
malai Nambi, and learnt the Ramayana from him
and returned to orlrangam.

RAMANUJA'S SECOND VISIT TO TIBUPATI i The

second occasion that necessitated Ramanuja's visit
to Tirupati was later. The worship originally
organised at Tirupati was in accordance with the
system of the Vaikhanasa Agama, and was being
conducted by a descendant of the first temple
priest Gopinath. In the course of years, in fact
centuries after, there seems to have been some
irregularity in the conduct of worship, for which
the local ruler punished the priests in charge,
who, in consequence took themselves away from
the place ; and there seems to have followed as a
result a certain period of neglect of this work.
In consequence the temple seems to have
remained without a recognised guardian, and
some £aivas in or about the locality seem to
have got into possession of the temple ; at any
rate, set up claims to it. There apparently was
not a sufficient community of Vaishnavas to
resist this claim effectively, and the local ruler,
described as a Yadavaraja, with his head-quarters

265
84

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

at Narayaijavarain, wished to put the matter on
a satisfactory footing after due enquiry. It was
on that occasion, probably on the representation
of a few Vaishnavas in the locality, that he sent
for Ramanuja from orirangam to come to his
court and meet the oaiva divines who set up
claims to the temple, and enable him to arrive at
a correct judgment as to the fact whether the
temple at Tirupati was a Vishgtu shrine or a Siva
shrine. Ramanuja responded to the invitation,
and explained the matter satisfactorily at the
assembled court, meeting the arguments of the
£aivas in support of their claim, and ultimately
established, to the satisfaction of the Raja, that
Venkatesa at Tirupati was beyond doubt a
representation of Vishnu and not of £iva. He
created a favourable impression upon the local
ruler, the Yadavaraja, so that he was able to
make use of the good offices of the Raja for the
purpose of installing, in a temple at the foot of
the hill, the image of Grovindaraja, whose shrine
in the great Siva temple at Chidambaram had
been ordered to be destroyed, and the principal
image thrown into the sea, by the Chola monarch
for the time being, a zealous £aiva. Some of
those connected with the temple however,
managed to get away from the place carrying
the movable images of the shrine, and had
arrived in Lower Tirupati for safety. Through

266

THE AGE! OF THE VAISSNAVA ACHARYAS

Ramanuja's influence, the Yadavaraja set apart
an unoccupied portion of the town at the foot of
the hill, built the shrine of Govindaraja there,
and laid out an Agrahara (Brahman settlement)
round it, making the necessary arrangements
for the conduct of the service in the temple.
The removal of the Govindaraja image from
Chidambaram is said to have taken place in this
account just a little before Ramanuja's successful
mission in connection with the character of the
shrine of Venkatachala at Tirupati. He is said
to have done several other things in connection
with the worship and festivals in the temple at
Tirupati before he returned from there. If the
Venkatachala Itihasamala is to be believed,
Tirurnalai Nambi was still alive and active in
Tirupati as well as Anantarya, his own disciple
whom he had deputed for the service of God at
Tirupati. Anantarya was to look after the
affairs of the temple under the direction of
Tirumalai Nambi, now very old.

RAMANUJA'S LATER VISITS -. Ramanuja is said to
have visited Tirupati again at a very advanced
age, and that is said to have been his last visit
on account of the great age to which he had
attained by the time. The actual age is given
as 102 years, and this is equated with the Kali
ysar 4,220, and the Saka year 1,041. He took

267

HISTORY OF TIRUPAT1

advantage of his being there on this occasion to
make certain improvements in the arrangements
that he had already made by giving the one
Sanyasin, who was to look after the affairs of the
temple disinterestedly, two or three assistants
who were to be bachelors looking after certain
departments of work. He also instituted the
chanting of the Prabandha hymns in the proper
form, and for that, he arranged that a special
person should be appointed to be in charge.
This became afterwards the head Sanyasin with
the title Satakopayati. He was assisted by four
bachelors who had the management of the
temple. This was to be supervised and controlled
by the Yadavaraja, who, in all matters relating
to the temple, was to act with the advice of
Anantarya, Ramanuja's own disciple, who is,
in this account, said to have attained to the
age of 66. On the basis of this arrangement,
we may take it that Tirumalai Nambi had
passed away.

There are one or two items of further
arrangements spoken of in connection with
matters more general, and not exclusively in
regard to Tirupati, which would indicate that he
had come to the last years of his life. That
is about as far as we are concerned with the
hiatory of the temple at Tirupati with respect to

268

THE A&E OF THE VAISHNAVA ACHARYAS

Ramanuja. But what we have noted already
from the Gurupnramparas that Nadamuni paid a
visit as did his grandson Yamunacharya, are
borne out by the account in the Venkatachala
Itihasamala as well. In the absence of confirma-
tion from inscriptions we have to make the
best of these accounts, and arrive at our own
conclusions as to the historical character of
these incidents.

EXAMINATION OP THE GURUPARAMPARA AND
HASAMALA ACCOUNTS: We have already noted
that there are no inscriptions in Tirupati and the
places dependent on it, during the period, and,
among the valid reasons for this absence was one
that probably this region was gradually passing
under the authority of local chiefs who were
rather inclined not to recognise the central
authority and who wished to set themselves up
in independence ultimately. The Yadavaraya
who figures in these accounts was probably a
chieftain who belonged to the family of Yadava-
rayas, some of whom became famous later on
in this locality, the best known name being
the powerful chief Vira Narasimha Yadavaraya,
feudatory of Kulottunga III and his successor
Rajaraja III. But before we proceed to examine
this, we must study one or two preliminary
questions in regard to the statements in the
Venkaffichala Itihasamala, and clear the position

269

BISTORT OF TIRUPATI

so far as these statements are concerned.
According to this authority, the first visit to
Timpati was undertaken for the purpose of
the Ramayana teaching of Tirumalai Nambi.
Another detail is mentioned in connection with
this, and that is a reference to the grant of an
Agrahara called Balamandya a village in the
vicinity of Tirupati by a Vitthalaraja, a disciple
of Ramanuja, which would mean that this, the
first visit of Ramanuja to Tirupati, should have
taken place after Ramanuja had returned from
what is now Mysore, to which he had to betake
himself in fear of the Chola monarch's anger,
because of the Vaishnavas of £rirangam, the
disciples of Ramanuja, not subscribing to the
Saiva doctrine that " Siva is the Supreme
Deity. " Then the second visit comes in rather
close to the destruction of the Govindaraja
temple at Chidambaram, and for the third visit
the Itihasamala gives specific dates. We shall
have to examine this carefully in the light of
what is known of the life of Ramanuja with a
view to appraising the actual value of these
statements for purposes of history. The Guru-
parampara date for Ramanuja's birth is the Saka
year 939, in the Christian era A. D. 1017. The
same Guruparamparas give us the date that, in
the £aka year 1021, the temple at Tirunaraya^a-
puram was built, and the image duly installed

270

THE AGE OF THE VAI8HNAVA ACHARYAS

with the countenance of this Vitthalaraya, who
had already become a disciple of Ramanuja.
This date would correspond to the year
A. D. 1099. Of course, the actual date given for
his third visit is based apparently upon this
Guruparampara date, and therefore works out
correctly for this date. But our difficulty centres
round certain known historical facts, two of
which relating to Ramanuja are established facts
of history. The first of these two facts is as to
when Ramanuja had to take himself away from
jSrlrangam for safety, and in consequence, came
into contact with, and secured the good-will of,
Vitthaladevaraya, the ruler of that territory at
the time. Vitthaladevaraya is obviously the
name of Bittideva, which is the Kannada form of
the Sanskrit Vishnudeva. Of course after getting
into association with Ramanuja, he is given the
Vaishnava form of the name Vishnu vardhana,
which is not altogether far from the original
name of the monarch, the addition merely indi-
cating that he had become a Vaishnava and
promoted the cause of Vaishnavism. Taking
the Guruparampara account itself, it mentions
this Vitthaladeva as the ruling monarch at the
time, and he is brought into contact with
Ramanuja while he was still in residence at the
village Tondanur, a few miles from the railway
station of French Rocks of to-day, in connection

271

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

with a domestic matter of Vitthaladeva's family.
It seems a daughter of this ruler was possessed,
and all the Jaina divines at court and elsewhere,
were not able to raise the ghost and free the
young lady from its clutches. Ramanuja is
supposed to have effected this successfully, and
in gratitude therefor the ruler became a disciple
of Ramanuja giving up Jainism which was his
former religion. It is after this incident that
Ramanuja got to know of the image buried at
Melkottai and installed it in a temple built for
the purpose in the locality. The precise date
given for that is, as we have already noted, at
the commencement, the equivalent of A. D. 1099.
It is this date that actually runs against what is
known from inscriptions and history. At this
date A. D. 1099, Vitthaladeva was yet a prince,
and his father who gives himself the titles
of a feudatory of the Chalukya empire under
Vikramaditya VI, had just died. He was suc-
ceeded in the position by an elder brother of
Bittideva holding only a subordinate position
like that of his other brother. It was about
A. D. 1106 at the earliest that he became ruler in
his own right, even in a subordinate capacity as
a feudatory of the Chalukya empire. We have
inscriptions of date A. D. 1117 stating that the
temple of Narayana at Belur was completed,* and

* Epigraphica Oamatica, Hassan, Vol. Belur, 58 and 41.

272

THE AGE OF THE VAI8HNAVA ACHARYAS

the image of God was installed in it. The year
before that A. D. 1116 Vishnuvardhana's general
Grangaraja successfully drove the Cholas out of
Mysore and captured Talakkad. * If Ramanuja
met him as ruler in the locality in which he is
said to have spent his time of exile in Mysore, it
must have been after A. D. 1106. It is very
probable that Bittideva was in no position to
do anything for Ramamija or Vaishnavism till
much later when his whole attention was centred
on releasing Southern Mysore from the grip of
the Cholas. There seems to be therefore a
discrepancy of about 15 or 16 years in regard
to this particular date.

THE CHOLA CONTEMPORARY OF RAMANUJA:

There is one other detail in connection with this
matter which we get from the Guruparamparas,
namely that Ramanuja returned to Srirangam,
from this locality where he had resided for about
25 years, on hearing that the Chola monarch for
the time being, having had an attack of
carbuncle, died from the effects of it. Of course,
the Vaishnavas regard this as a visitation from
God Vishnu for his disservice, and dub him
Krimikanta Chola. The Chola contemporary of
Ramanuja at this period, and the Chola who was
responsible for Ramanuja's taking himself away

* Epigraphica Carnatica, Vol. for Mysore, Ma\avalle 31.

373
85

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

from orirangam to the Mysore country, could
have been no other than Kulottunga I, who was
by no means a fanatic £aiva. He may have been
a ISaiva and he may have been zealous in the
pursuit of his religion ; but we have indubitable
records that he was anything but a fanatic, as
arrangements were made for the worship of God
Ranganatha at a particular festival at Orirangam,
and the inscription is dated in his reign *, and
mentions him as the ruling sovereign. This
would mean that in very Srirangam, which was
the place of Ramanuja, Kulottunga allowed the
freedom to the Vaishnavas to make their own
arrangements for worship even to the extent of
providing for the recital of certain sections of
the Prabandha. Notwithstanding this, it is not
impossible to conceive that he invited Ramanuja
for a discussion, or religious disputation, as
against a oaiva controversialist, and punished
the two Vaishnavas who went instead, in the
manner described by putting their eyes out, not
so much on account of differences in religion as
to punish the impertinence of the answer that
was actually given by the stout-hearted disciple
of Ramanuja, Kurattalvan, who met the thesis
that " £iva is the Supreme " by an almost
blasphemous play upon words that the measure

* South Ind. Ins, III, 70, pp. 148-152.

274

TBE AGE OF THE VAISHNAVA ACHARYAS

Drona was higher than the measure &iva9 £iva
being the name of Grod and of a grain measure
alike. Then it was felt that Ramanuja's position
in £rirangam was dangerous, and he had to get
away from there. If he remained anything like
25 years out of £rirangam and returned
thereto only after the death of the ruler, the
ruler under reference could be 110 other than
Kulottunga I, who died some time about
A. D. 1118-20, A. D. 1118 being the earliest
known year of his successor Vikrama Chola,
who was a Vaishnava. It is probable that
Ramanuja's building of the temple at Melkottai
may have been some time after A. D. 1106 and
before A. D. 1116. The date A. D. 1099 for this
seems impossible.

DATE OF FOUNDATION OF TIRU'NARAYANAPURAM*

MEULOTTA BY RAMANUJA. In the traditional
accounts of the Guruparampara, while it is
possible that there should be errors in regard
to the precise dating of events, as these were
compiled generations later, the general trend
of the story is likely to be more or less correct.
On this assumption we may take it that
Ramanuja went away to what is now Mysore, and
remained there for a period of about a quarter
of a century more or less as t
state it. He might have rem
and even gone about teaching ai

275

msrosr OF

together a number of disciples devoted to
him. It would be impossible for him to have
constructed a temple like that at Melkotta,
not a big temple that it now is, but even a
comparatively small shrine, without the counte-
nance of the local authority, arid therefore we
may well take it that that was undertaken after
Ramanuja had gained the good-will and perhaps
even the esteem of a devotee of Vishnu in the
person of Vitthaladevaraya. As we have a
specific date for his building the Vishnu shrine
at Belur in A. D. 1117, we may perhaps
safely take it that the temple at Melkotta was
founded just a few years earlier, say, about
A. D. 1015, when certainly Bittideva was the
ruler, and was actively engaged in the locality
round Mysore in the course of his conquest of
that part of the country from the Cholas.
This would mean a discrepancy of about
fifteen or sixteen years in the date given by
the Guruparampara for the foundation of the
Melkotta temple. This event perhaps happened
somewhere about A. D. 1115, rather than
A. D. 1099. It is the Guruparampara of the
Tritiya Brahmatantrasvamin that gives the date
§aka 1021 precisely for this. But the other
:&$ru$arampara of Pinbalagiya Jiyar sets down
the date #s Saka 1012, making the year
the other one, which is impossible,

876

fHE AGE OF THE VA1SHNAVA AGHARYAS

as Bahudanya equates with Saka 1021 , and
cannot therefore with Saka 1012. A discrepancy
in the precise date therefore seems not merely
possible, but is proved by this difference between
the authorities. If Ramanuja returned to Sriran-
gam soon after hearing of the death of the
Chola, who was responsible for sending him
away from there, it must have been at the
earliest after A. D. 1118, it may be after
A. D. 1120, which would agree fairly well with
the date somewhere about A. D. 1115, for the
foundation of the Melkotta temple.

THE PERIOD OF RAMANUJA S EXILE FROM SRI-
RANGAM. The statement in the Venkatachala
Itihasamala, which seems to couple Ramanuja's
first visit to Tirupati, to learn the secret teaching
of the Ramayana from his ancle, with the
fact he had already got the grant of land of
Balamandya, a village near Tirupati from
Vitthaladevaraya seems highly improbable.
Ramanuja was, under the instruction of his great
grandfather Slavandar, being gradually equipped
for the position of the chief Vaishnava teacher
at $rirangam by acquiring from the eight
disciples of Alavaiidar who each one had been
entrusted with the esoteric teachings of the one
or the other of the main Vaishnava scriptures,
had begun acquiring these comparatively early
in his life, after having been duly installed in

277

HISTORY OF TIRTJPAT1

Srirangam. It seems unlikely that this took
place so late as after his return from Mysore.
It was probable that he had acquired this before
his name could be put forward as a Vaishnava
teacher of reputation, whose subscription to the
Saiva doctrine could be regarded as of decisive
importance. So Ramanuja's first visit to Tirupati
must have been pretty early in his life soon
after lie left Conjeevaram and went and settled
down in Srirangam as yet not quite the chief
Vaishnava teacher; while Anandalvar's going
over to Ranianuja to be his disciple might well
have been after his return from Mysore. That
an Ayrahara had been established in Balamandya
at his request by Vitthaladevaraya, is itself
improbable as this village was near Tirupati
which was not then in the Hoysala territory.
Anantarya may have been one of the principal
Vaishnavas who might have settled in that
Agrahara. The Itihasamala statement seems to
confound the two as apparently Anantarya was
asked to go and settle down in Tirupati, probably
because Ramanuja's uncle, Tirumalai Nambi, had
reached to ripe old age and could not be expected
to continue his service, which involved a con-
siderable amount of physical strain, for long.
Counting therefore the 25 years' stay of
Ramanuja in Hoysala territory backwards from
the date A. D. 1120, it would bring us to some

278

THE AGE OF THE VAISHNAVA ACHARYAS

time about A. D. 1095, for him to leave Srirangam
under fear of death through the ill-will of the
Chola emperor. There is no obvious objection
to this date from the circumstances of Ramamija's
history, which would mean that he left the
Chola country about A. D. 1095 and returned
to it soon after A. D. 1120.

RAMANUJA'S EPOCH-MAKING VISIT TO TIRUPATI.

His second visit is the really epoch-making visit
to Tirupati. We stated already that he was
invited to go there by the Yadavaraja for the
time being, as his name is not specifically
mentioned to us, to argue on behalf of the
Vaishnavas against the claims set up by the
!§aivas that the temple on the hill was a Siva
temple. It was also stated that this contention
was raised, as worship in the temple had been
neglected for some considerable time by the
Vaikhanasa priests having abandoned the place,
and the prescribed worship in the temple having
been given up. It was this that gave the
opportunity for the Saivas to take over the
worship and claim possession of the temple.
That might well have happened in the latter
part of the reign of Kulottunga I, and in
consequence of the same wave of Saiva
fanaticism which turned out Ramanuja from the
Chola country. It was about that time that
ti had become a great centre of the

279

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

£aivas. Ramanuja's cousin, the son of the other
sister of Tirumalai Nambi, who, as Govinda
Bhatta, was a fellow student of Ramamija
who had afterwards become a fanatical Saiva
and was in residence in Kalahasti. He was so
fanatically attached to Saivism that Tiruinalai
Nambi found it very difficult to wean him
from his attachment to Siva, and reclaim
him to the fold of the Vaishnavas as the story
has it. He had just then been reclaimed and
Ramanuja was able to take him with him after
completing his Ramayana studies with Tirumalai
Nambi, according to the Guruparampara account.
Therefore there was a considerable amount of
$aiva fanaticism in the locality, and, if the
actul Vaishnava priests at Tirupati failed to
discharge the functions, it was possible for the
Saivas to step into their place, and claim the
shrine as their own. Since Ramamija moved
away from £rirangam, the body of Vaishnavas
at the place had been somewhat cowed down and
could not put forward or sustain a claim to speak
for the Vaishnavas as a whole. It was probably
the return of Ramanuja to ^rlrangarn, and the
accession of a Vaishnava ruler like Vikrama
Chola to the Chola throne, that put new heart
into the Vaishnavas and made them claim the
temple on the hill as their own. This must have
happened some time after Ramanuja returned

880

THE AGE OF THE VAISHNAVA ACHARTA8

to orlrangam, and had sufficient time to install
himself in his place and make his position secure
there. As a matter of fact the Venkatachala
Itihasamala states it that while RSmanuja was
still in Tirupati, the news of the removal of the
image of Govindaraja in the Govindaraja shrine
in Chidambaram reached Tirupati, Ramanuja
heard of this from those who had run away for
shelter to Tirupati, carrying the movable images
from the shrine. For this event a precise dating
is possible, as it is actually mentioned in Tamil
literature in three separate works of the poet
Ottakkuttar, who was tutor and governor to
Kulottunga II, the son and successor of Vikrama
Chola who ascended the throne in A. D. 1135,
and whose abhisheka must have taken place
probably that year. So about A. D. 11B5 ought
to be the time when the images should have
reached Tirupati. At that time Ramanuja was
high in influence at the court of the local ruler?
Yadavaraja, and had been ordering things at
Tirupati, largely not only for the conduct of
worship as oi' old, but even to provide the temple
,rith all that was necessary to carry on regular
worship throughout the year, the periodical
worship, provision for festivals, improvement of
he town itself with a view to these, and much
else that went to improve the amenities of the
town to make it possible for the people there to

281

HISTORY OF T1RUPAT1

live comfortably all the year round and render
the services to the temple which must have
become much more constant and regular. It
was then that the Yadavaraja undertook the
building of the Grovindaraja shrine and lay out
the Agrahara which he called Ramanujapura.
Therefore then the second visit of Ramanuja to
Tirupati should have taken place some eight or
ten years after his return to Srirangam, say>
after A. D. 1130. If the Yadavaraya, whose
capital is said to have been Narayanavaram not
far from Tirupati, had been a ruler of such
influence in the locality as to have helped
Ramanuja, we can well expect some record of
his doings, which would normally be set up in the
temple in the form of inscriptions. There is
no inscription referable to the time of any
Yadavaraya, and the only record of the period is
the one inscription of the 16th year of Vikrama
Chola dated A. D. 1117, and this has reference
to the oiva temple at Tirupaladisvaram, Sri
parasaresvara, in lower Tirupati. We shall have
to find an explanation for this.

GHATTIDEVA, THE YADAVARAYA CONTEMPORARY

OF RAMANUJA. We have records of a Yadava-
raya of the time with whom we can, in our
present state of knowledge, safely equate all
these doings to assist Ramanuja to put the daily
and annual functions in the temple on a footing

282

THE AGE OF THE VAISBNAVA ACHARYAS

of assured purpose from time to time. The
actual circumstances under which this was
called for has already been stated. Prom all
that was said before, it would be clear that, so
far, the organisation for conducting worship in
the temple of Tirupati seems to have been more
or less of a private matter and left entirely to
the community concerned to manage. It seems
to have been entirely the doing of the Vaishnavas
of the locality interested in the matter as actual
worshippers of the deity installed in the temple.
Except the earliest incidents connected with the
almost legendary Tondaman Chakravarti, there
is no mention of any state authority or royal
personage having done anything towards this
organisation of worship in the temple, or
provision therefor, through all the long period of
history that we have covered. It seems to have
been left entirely to the Vaikhanasa priestly
family, or it may be a few families, who had
been brought in there for conducting the worship
according to that school of Vaishnava Agama
worship. In our comparatively scanty, and
broken pieces of, information which are put
together, there is no reference to this particular
so far. Such grants as have been made to the
temple — and there have been a number — were
more or less private grants which were allowed
to be managed by the residents of the locality,

283

HISTORY OF TIBUPATI

StSnattSr as they are called, who had the
management of the temple in their own hands,
as in fact was the case actually in respect of
shrines in villages right up to the end of the last
century almost. Royal or official interference
of a necessary or compulsory character, would
be invoked only on occasions of extraordinary
trouble, or dissension beyond the power of the
local people to settle. The intervention sought
of the local ruler, Yadavaraya was in this case
of that particular character, on the basis of such
information as we have access to for the present.
There is an inscription of the 17th year of
Vikrama Chola, which would bring us to the
date A. D. 1135, of a Yadavaraya by name
Grhattideva who was ruling in this locality, very
probably as a governor — it may be a feudatory —
of the ruling Chola for the time being, and that
is, Vikrama Chola. In the records just a few
years later, he assumes the title — probably he was
given that title— Kulottungasola- Yadavaraya,
which would mean he continued to hold the
office under Kulottunga II, the son and successor
of Vikrama Chola. More than that, he apparently
continued to be conducting the administration
loyally, and earned the appreciation of his
sovereign so far as to have been conferred this
title of honour. This is a point of some
importance in this context, as that would go a

284

TBE AGE OF THE VAISHNAVA AC8ARTAS

great way towards explaining why he did not put,
on record any inscriptions in the temple of what
he did by way of organising worship, and
even making benefactions to the temple. This
Ghattideva seems to have been the actual ruler
during the period with which we are concerned,
as his records seem to go down to A. D. 1150.
He is said to have had the title Yadava Narayana,
which perhaps need not be given a Vaishnava
significance. Some time later we hear of a
son of his, a Rajamalla Yadavaraya, otherwise
Bhujabala Siddharasa; but his records take him
to rather late in the reign of Kulottunga 11L
Therefore we may take it safely that it was this
Ghattideva, the feiidatory of both Vikrama
Chola and Kulottunga II, that was actually
the Yadavaraya who called in the assistance of
Ramanuja to settle the dispute in the Tirupati
temple Not only that, he interested himself
further in putting the whole course of temple
management and worship in order through
Ramanuja and the community of Vaishnavas in
Tirupati. We may perhaps take it that he did
not, as rulers of his standing before him did,
think of putting on record what he did to the
temple at Tirupati, as he might have felt
such a thing might have been displeasing to
the sovereign, who showed himself to be an
enthusiastic follower of Saivism personally, and

HISTORY OF TIRVPAT1

what is really more, what he did to the Vishnu
temple both at Tirupati on the hill, and the town
below, were acts which might have been
regarded as going against some of the acts of the
suzerain. It is just possible that Kulottunga II
as a Hindu sovereign might not have actually
objected to his doing what he actually did, but
it would be justifiable if the Yadavaraya felt shy
that these acts of his may not be actively
approved at headquarters. This Grhattideva
Yadavaraya therefore, the first name among the
Yadavaraya rulers to come to our notice in
inscriptions early in the 12th century A. D.,
seems to have been the actual ruler, who was
contemporary with Ramanuja.

THE PROBABLE TIME OP THE SECOND VISIT OP

RAMANUJA. Having regard to all these various
circumstances, we are entitled to infer that the
most active part in the life of Ramanuja in
Tirupati must be the years following the
accession of Kulottunga II to the Chola empire.
This was his second visit. According to the
Vtnkafichala Itihasamala, he paid a third visit
when he was Iu2 years of age, and then regarded
it as no more possible for him to be visiting
Tirupati as frequently as hitherto, and made
certain arrangements in order to assure per-
manence to the arrangements that he had made,
and returned to £rlrangam. The same work

286

THE AGE OF THE VAISHNAVA AOHARTAS

says that he paid afterwards two or three flying
visits before he died. In the traditional Guru-
parampara accounts, he is supposed to have
lived 120 years, the length of a mahadaSa.
Without taking it too literally, we might regard
Ramanuja's was a long life running past a
century, it may even be some years more than
that, and whithout attempting to be too precise
where perhaps too much precision may not be
possible, we may say roughly that the active
period of Ramanuja's life covered a century from
A. D. 1050 to A. D. 1150. Going by the precise
statements given above, his 102nd year would
correspond to the year A. D. 1119 which we have
shown to be impossible for the precise events
recorded, of which we can be certain in regard
to dating If in A. D. 1119, he was 102, he must
have lived on 18 years longer which would
mean that he passed away some time about
the year A. D. 1139, which, having regard to the
precise dating of the accession of Kulottunga II,
would make it much too early. But if we take
in the 15 or 16 years of discrepancy by way
of antedating that we have noted already, it
would mean that he actually passed away in
A. D. 1155, and this date, it is just possible may
be correct.

287

CHAPTER XII.

ORGANISATION OP WORSHIP AT TIRUPATI
BY RAMANUJA.

THE OCCASION FOR RAMANUJA'S WORK IN THIS

LINE. The main items of his arrangements for
the conduct of worship in Tirupati, and what he
did for the improvement both of the shrine and
the town, may be summarised as from the
Venkatachala Itihasamala. The purpose for
which Ramanuja was invited to Tirupati on this
occasion was to meet the arguments of the
£aivas at the Court of the Yadavaraya, in
justification of their claims to the possession
of the temple on the hill, as a shrine dedicated
to civa and as such entitled to Saiva guardian-
ship. They put forward that certain peculiar
features of the temple, both in the features of
the image itself and in the details of the worship
conducted, constituted a claim to the image
being regarded as that of Siva, and the shrine
therefore a £aiva shrine. It is hardly necessary,
for our present purpose, to go through the whole
series of arguments which Ramanuja urged in
reply to give satisfaction to the Saivas, quoting
largely from the Pauranic and other authorities,
drawing largely on the Prabandha works

888

ORGANISATION OF WORSHIP AT TIRUPATI

also. He was therefore able completely to
satisfy the Yadavaraja that the features pointed
out were features by no means peculiar to Siva
alone, and forms of Vishnu with those features
are not impossible either of contemplation or of
representation. But even then, the Saivas had
recourse to this final argument that the Yadava-
raja had been prejudiced against them, not by
force of the arguments of Ramanuja, but by
some kind of an occultic influence which they
actually averred Ramanuja exercised over him.
To put the matter beyond all doubt, it is said
that Ramanuja suggested that the ultimate
decision might be left to God himself, and it
was then that they got prepared the weapons
peculiar to oiva and Vishnu which were to be
placed in the sanctum of the temple when the
night worship should be over, and the sanctum
locked up and sealed, so that nobody might
have access to the place. It was agreed that
whichever of the weapons the image of the
Grod had assumed when the shrine should be
opened in the morning, would indicate the
nature of the deity there. Certain accounts, of
a popular character generally say that Ramanuja
assumed the form of a serpent, as he was him-
self an emanation of Ananta, the serpent, and set
the conch and the disc in the hands of Vishnu
overnight. But the Venkaffichala ItihSsamala is

289

BISTORT OF T1RUPATI

quite content with merely saying that Ramanuja
spent the night in contemplation upon the deity,
and in prayer that the deity might prove the
truth by assuming the Vaishnava weapons, as
he had no honest doubt whatever that the deity
was a Vaishnava deity, and had been so
regarded almost from the time that the image
was found and a temple was erected to house it.
That done, it was his responsibility as head of
the Vaishnavas, and of the Raja, who was the
ruler of the locality, to see to it that whatever
had to be done in the temple had been laid
down, with proper arrangements made for
carrying them out through the year. Naturally
this would involve arrangements for the worship
as it had so far been conducted continuously, and
wherever necessary to revive items of temple
ritual, which may have fallen into desuetude.
Some few new items which seemed to Ramanuja
very appropriate were also introduced in his
time and continued ever since.

THE DETAILS OF RAMANUJA'S ORGANISATION. Of

the seven divisions of the work, &rl Venkatachala
Itihasamala, the first three sections or stabakas
as they are called, are concerned with the
discussion as to the Vaishnava character of the
image. The remaining four stabakas are taken
up with what Ramanuja did for the temple, and,

290

ORGANISATION OF WORSHIP AT TIRUPATI

after him, his disciple Anantarya. Since ins-
criptions of the next following century do
mention the gardens and other features named
after Ramanuja and Anantarya, we may take it
that Ramanuja's doings there and Anantarya's
presence are matters which need not be regarded
as historically doubtful. Nos. 171 and 173 from
the Tirupati temple mention, without a doubt
Anandalvan, and No. 175 mentions equally
clearly the Tirunandavana (flower-garden) of
Ramanuja. Ramanuja's effort therefore as to
what he should do consisted first of all in the
publication of the Yadavaraya's award that the
shrine was a Vishnu shrine, and to restore to it
the rituals of worship, etc., according to the
Vaikhanasa Igarna as of old, after performing
the initial purificatory rite of the great ablution
of the temple, etc. He is said next to have
repaired the tower rising over the temple called
Ananda Nilaya in accordance with the pres-
criptions of the same Agama. He is said to have
made a gold necklet containing an image of
Padmavati, and put it round the neck of the Grod
and restored the image to its position. This is
the first part. The next item that called for his
attention was the performance of the weekly
ablutions, and the kind of face-mark with which
the God's image was to be decorated. The
ablution given to the God on every Friday

291

HISTORY OF TIRUPAT1

was in accordance with the Ananda Sainhita
of the Agamas of the Vaikhanasas. The upright
face-mark for the God (Ordhva Pundra) was
prescribed to be of the camphor mixture called
Pacchaikarpuram, and for three days from Mon-
day onwards, of the white earth generally called
Namam. All the jewels and wearing apparel of
the God were to be removed on Thursday, and
the God was to be dressed only in flowers
completely. He instituted, that during this
process the Nacchiyar Tirumoli, one of collection
in the Prabandha was to be recited. For the
continuance of the worship in the proper form,
and, according to the practices of the Vaikhanasa
Agama, he entrusted the work to such of the
descendants of the early Vaikhanasa priest
Bimbadhara, who, having received the puri-
ficatory ceremony of Vaishnava initiation from
himself, were to conduct worship. He made
arrangements for the installation of images of
the Alvars ; but, as several of these by themselves,
had stated that it would be profanation to walk
up the hill, Ramanuja arranged to install their
images in Tirupati at the foot of the hill in the
shrine of Govindaraja which had recently been
constructed.

THE BUILDING OF THE GOVINDARAJA TEMPLE.

The most important item of Ramanuja's work
on. this occasion, wap the building of this

292

ORGANISATION OF WORSHIP AT TIRUPATI

Govindaraja shrine. The temple on the top of the
hill was dedicated to Vishnu in the form in which
he is believed to reside in Vaikunfoa (Vishnu's
Heaven). There the God is in the standing
posture, with all the attributes and attendants
usual to him, in Vaikuntha. The Govindaraja in
Chidambaram was believed, and the belief conti-
nues even now, was the representation of God
as he sleeps on Ananta, the great serpent, on the
4 ocean of milk '. It is upon this feature that
the young Chola monarch made a pun in his
remark that the natural home of that God was
the sea, not the front yard of the temple of
Nataraja. So when the movable images from
Chidambaram had been brought by the Vaishna-
vas, and the Yadavaraja iindertook to build a
temple to house them, Vishnu, as he lay abed
on * the ocean of milk ', was installed in the
temple at the foot of the Tirupati hill. The
Yadavaraja not only built the shrine at the end
of the town, but built houses round it on the
four sides, and, presenting them to good
Brahmans, made an Agrahara round the temple
calling the place Ramanujapura, which became
thereafter an important locality, as he took care
to provide everything that was required to
constitute a good town out of it. Ram an uj a
arranged for a small shrine for Goda within the
temple, and taking that occasion the YadavarSja

293

HISTORY OF T1KUPATI

instituted two annual festivals in that temple,
one in Ani (August — September) and the other
in Margali (December — January). Having done
this, the Yadavaraja invited Tirumalai Nambi
and Anantarya to come and reside in the houses
which he had built in Lower Tirupati.

THE TEMPLE WATER SUPPLY. The temple on the
hill had been provided, soon after the foundation
of the temple, with wells for the temple services
and for the purpose of the garden by one
Rangadasa. They had fallen into disrepair and
got partly destroyed. Rainanuja restored these
two wells. On the bank of the step well, he
set up images of Srmivasa and Bhudevi, and
arranged that the flowers etc., used in the temple
service should be thrown into the well as sacred
to Bhudevi. Then there seems to have been a
difficulty for the supply of good water, and
one of the services rendered by .Tirumalai
Nambi ever since he settled down there, was to
bring the supply of water from Papanasa, some
distance away. On the occasion of Alavandar's
visit, Tirumalai Nambi was not able to bring
the water owing to illness, and, to avoid the
inconvenience for the future, ilavandar obtained
divine sanction to use the water from the
kitchen-well dug by Rangadasa within the
temple .premises for the kitchen service. This

29*

ORGANISATION OF WORSHIP AT TIRUPAT1

was called Sundarasvami well, the water from
which was accepted as equivalent to the
water from the Papanasa by God himself by
5lavandar's prayer. According to the original
story, which is recorded in all the Puranas,
the image of the God was discovered under
a tamarind tree by the Sudra Rangadasa, and
when the Tondaman Chakravarti afterwards
wanted to build a shrine, he had to take note of
this, and in planning the temple, he found this
original tamarind tree and another Champaka
tree, the flower from which was used for worship,
were near each other and limited the extent of
space on which the temple could be constructed.
As the Tondaman Chakravarti was much
exercised about it, the trees moved away from
each other and widened the space, and thus
solved the difficulty. Having heard the story,
Ramanuja made arrangements for the worship
of these trees within the premises of the shrine.

NAGA JEWELS ON THE ARMS OP GOD'S IMAGE.

The next item that called for Ramanuja's
attention was a Naga jewel (jewel in the shape of
a cobra), which was worn on only one arm of the
God Venkatesa. When he wanted information
as to how it came about, he was told the story
that a Gajapati King by name Vira Narasimha,
was at Tirupati in the course of a pilgrimage,

295

BISTORT OF TIRUPAT1

which he had undertaken to Ramesvaram.
Finding that the temple was without a tower, he
wanted that a great tower should be built, and,
having ordered the building, he went forward on
his pilgrimage, and when he returned to Tirupati,
work on the tower had already reached the first
stage. At this stage, he had a dream, when he
was in Tirupati, that Ananta, the great serpent,
appeared before him and complained that, by
way of devoted service to God, he was over-
loading him, as the whole hill was his own body,
and wished to be spared the trouble. After
taking advice, he stopped the tower at the stage
which it had reached, and in token of Ananta's
appearance before him, got a representation of
him made as a jewel, and placed it on one of the
arms of the God which the God himself had
accepted. At the same time he was also informed
that not one but a pair of Naga jewels were
presented to God Venkatesa on the occasion of
his marriage with Padmavati by his father-in-law
Akasaraja. Having regard to this Ramanuja
asked that the gold Naga jewels should be on
both hands of Venkatesa.

SHRINES TO NARASIMHA. Another of the institu-
tions of Ramanuja is said to be the Nrsimha
shrine within the premises of the temple. The
Pauraqic story in regard to this is that God

396

ORGANISATION OF WORSHIP AT TIRUPATI

Sankara performed a penance to Vishnu-Nrsimha
who appeared before him and granted his prayer.
This is said to have taken place on the west
bank of the Svami Pushkarani, and an attempt
was made later to build a temple to Siva on the
spot. The Vaishijavas of the locality objected on
the ground that a Siva shrine should not be
built there as God himself had ordered otherwise,
on the authority of the Puranas. According to
their story, when the original temple was
constructed and subsidiary shrines made for
Vishnu and his attendant deities, Siva requested
that he might also be allowed accommodation
on the hill. God Vishnu himself, to whom the
request was preferred, allotted to Siva a place at
the foot of the hill on the banks of the Kapila
Tirtha, and hence they argued it would be
sacrilege to build a shrine to Siva anywhere
within the limits of the hill. Ramanuja agreed,
and, in order to solve even future difficulties
arising therefrom, provided a shrine within the
walls of the temple for Nrsimha as this aspect of
Vishnu was fearsome and frightening to ordinary
people. He therefore provided a shrine within
the sanctum of the temple under the tower
Ananda Nilaya for Nrsimha, and ordained worship
there. He also arranged for the setting up of
an image of Nj-simha where Markandeya was
supposed to have had a vision of Npsimha himself

297

HISTORY OF TIRUPAT1

in front of the Nrsimha cavern which led by a
secret passage to the hill. Ramanuja set up an
image of Nrsimha and built a shrine for the
image, and arranged worship for that also.

MIRACLES IN FAVOUR OP ANANTARYA AND THEIR

PERPETUATION. Then follows the story of two
miracles that God Siinivasa is supposed to have
performed in respect of Anantarya. The first
has reference to a hollow in the chin of the
image, which, according to the story, is said to
have been caused by Anantarya in the following
circumstances. Anantarya was engaged in digg-
ing a small tank for watering his garden. He
used to make his wife, then pregnant, carry the
baskets of earth on her head to be thrown at a
distance. God took pity on her, and, in the
form of a young bachelor, used to carry the
basket on his head and relieve Anantarya's wife
of the labour. Anantarya felt displeased that
this impertinent bachelor was depriving him and
his wife of the merit of service to God. When the
bachelor would not give up what he was doing,
notwithstanding several requests, he became
wild and hit him with the butt-end of the shovel
with which he was digging. The bachelor dis-
appeared, and when Anantarya went into the
temple for worship in the evening as usual, he
noticed the bleeding wound on the spot where
he hit the bachelor. Taken aback by this, he

298

ORGANISATION OF WORSHIP AT TIRUPATI

immediately ran out and brought in a herb to
stop the bleeding, and making a powder from
out of it filled in the wound and thus stopped
the bleeding. Pleased with this service of
Anantarya, God agreed that, as an item of daily
worship, that depression should be filled with the
camphor mixture, which is used for his face-
mark, and ordered that the shovel itself should
be hung up in a prominent place in front of the
temple. The other miracle was that Anantarya
was cultivating a flower-garden with the greatest
care near the temple. He found that at the
flowering season, the flowers were all collected
and used and thrown about, leaving comparatively
little of it for his own purpose in the morning.
Being very wroth that somebody should be
doing this, he kept watch to discover who it was
that was actually doing it. After six or seven
failures, he discovered one night a princely
young man and a young lady to match,
were disporting themselves in the garden and
playing with the flowers, etc. The old man ran
about to capture the young man who dodged
him and disappeared into the temple. But he
managed, however, to catch the young lady and
tied her up to the next champaka tree. As
became her, she begged of hi,m to release her,
and pleaded that he should take hold of the man
and punish him, and not her, whom he might

299

HISTORY OF TIRUPATt

regard as his own daughter, and let go.
Anantarya would not let her go. When the day
dawned, and the temple servants entered the
sanctum, ormivasa intimated to them what
actually took place, and when the story reached
Anantarya, he was transported beyond bounds ;
and, taking the flower basket full of flowers and
carrying Padmavati, the goddess, on his head, he
entered the temple, and set both of them before
God. This story is said to have been related to
Ramanuja, and he ordered that thereafter on the
occasion of the Purattasi festival, the God may
be taken to the garden on the seventh day, and
that Anantarya may be presented with a garland
of flowers, etc., on the eighth day on the occasion
of the festival of the car.

FOOTMARKS OP SRINIVASA UNDER THE TAMARIND
TREE. The next institution of Ramanuja is the
footprints of God under the tamarind tree half
way up the hill. It was stated already that
Ramanuja went to Tirupati to learn the orthodox
teaching of the Ramayam from his uncle
Tirumalai Nambi, who under direction of
Alavandar had been in residence on the hill
serving God. Since Ramanuja would not go up
the hill and resided in Lower Tirupati, the
Nambi had to come down from the hill, and they
so arranged it that they met somewhere halfway
up the hill where there was a big shady tamarind

300

ORGANISATION OF WORSHIP AT TIRUPATI

tree. The Ramayana teaching went on under
this tree. Tirumalai Nambi was sorry however
that the discharge of his duty to Ramanuja and
the community deprived him of the afternoon
worship of God, a duty which he regarded as
due from him. In this perplexing position, God
appeared before him in a dream and told him
that He would appear before him at the mid-day
worship where he was, and while Ramanuja
and the Nambi were engaged in the Ramayana
lesson, and, at the correct moment of worship in
the temple on the top of the hill, the footmarks
of God appeared in front of these two with
the smell of flowers and basil, and such other
articles of worship as were thrown at the feet of
God. Ramanuja thereafter arranged that the
spot should be held as a place of worship and
everybody who goes up the hill, on reaching
this spot should offer worship to £rmivasa, crying
out the name of Govinda. Even Chandalas
were allowed to go and offer worship there, after
having bathed in a tank called Chaydala-tlrtha.

ARRANGEMENTS FOR WORSHIP OF RAMA, VARAHA,

ETC. Ramanuja was also responsible for install-
ing within the temple of Srlnivasa an image of
£ri Rama as He offered refuge to Vibhlshaija
just before the war of the .Ramayana. This
manifestation of God was made in response to the
prayer of a certain Yogi by name Visvambara

301

HISTORY OF T1RUPATI

who lived on the banks of the river Vaigai
(Sans. Krtamala) to the south-west of Madura,
at a place called K'alavinkam in Sanskrit (Tarn.
Kuruvitturaf). Owing to disturbances in the
locality later on, the Vaishnavas were directed to
carry the image for protection to Venkatachalam.
The image was brought to Tirupati as Tirumalai
Nambi and Ramanuja were engaged in the study
of that part of the Emnayana. Happy at the
coincidence, Ramanuja arranged to set up the
image of Rama as He appeared on that occasion,
with the addition of an image of Sita also, and
provided a place of worship for these in the temple.

The next item in this line is Ramanuja's
enforcing the old-time worship of Varaha on the
west bank of the Svami Pushkarani before
offering worship at the temple of Siinivasa. In
ordering worship at the temple of Govindaraja,
Ramanuja also ordained that, as in Venkatachala,
the temple priests, after the performance of
the last item of worship overnight, should be
presented with garlands in the shrine of Vishvak-
sena, the guardian deity before locking up the
door for the night.

FESTIVAL IN MEMORY OF TIRUMALAI NAMBI.

The sixth section of the work has reference to the
association of Tirumalai Nambi and Anantarya
with Tirupati. In regard to Tirumalai Nambi

VARAHASYAMI-TIRUMALAI ( To I** *» 302 1

AKASAGANGA-TlRTH AM ( To face page 303 }

ORGANISATION OF WORSHIP AT TIRUPATI

we have already stated how and when he went
to Tirupati, and what service he was rendering
there on the hill. One of the items of service to
which he devoted himself was the carrying of
water from the Papanasa, a few miles away, for
the daily ablution of the God. He used to carry
the water-pot on the head reciting the Periya
Tirumoli of Tirumangai JLlvar on the way. One
day he noticed suddenly that the weight on the
head was diminishing gradually, and discovered
when he looked at it that the pot was empty.
Turning back he discovered a young hunter was
drinking off the water' by deftly making a small
hole in the earthern pot by means of an arrow.
To the Nambi's angry question whether it was
proper that he should do what he did, as the
water was intended for (rod's service, the hunter
answered with a provoking nonchalance " 0,
Grandfather, do not be distressed about the
water. Here a little way down is a holy pool of
water, from which you can carry the water for
the temple service". So saying he went a little
way ahead and pointed to the Akasaganga, and
said " This is the holy Ganges water itself, and
you might bring this daily for Our service ". So
saying the hunter disappeared. Wondering at
the exhibition of God's grace to his devotees, he
became even more" devoted than before, and was
thereafter carrying water from the Akasaganga

303

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

instead of the more distant PapanaSa. Since
God himself chose to call him grandfather
(Tata), the term Tatarya was added as a
cognomen or title. His descendants thereafter
were entitled Tataryas or Tatacharyas in conse-
quence. Tirumalai Nambi had a son whom he
had named Ramanuja. On his premature death,
he adopted a son whom he named Kumara
Tirumalai Nambi, whom the Nambi used to call
Tata for brevity. It would appear that this
young man was extremely friendly to everybody
and received the sobriquet of Tftfappa (the
friendly one). Hence the family came to be
known as Tolappa Tatacharya. When Tirumalai
Nambi passed away, Ramanuja instituted the
festival in his honour on the day following the
Adhyayana Utsava during which the Prabhanda
used to be recited. The festival consisted in
bathing the image of God, seating the image in
the Mangalagiri hall, with water brought by
Vaishnava Brahmans from the Akasaganga
chanting the Prabhanda of Tirumangai llvar all
the way in procession, and presenting tiatakopa
(the sin-destroying crown surmounted by a pair
of sandals).

THE PAVILION OF YAMUNACHARYA. In regard to

Anantarya we have already stated that he came
to Ramanuja as a disciple from his native place

ORGANISATION OF WORSHIP AT TIRUPATI

Balamandya in the country near Tirupati, and
that he volunteered service to go to Tirupati on
Ramanuja's reqiiisition. His service consisted in
making a flower-garden and supplying flowers
for the purpose of the daily worship of the God.
Having heard that Yamunacharya during his
stay there at Tirupati had a little cottage near
the temple from which he supplied flower for
the God, Anantarya built a mandapa there in
which he set up an image of Yamunacharya.
Anantarya used to bring the flowers there, string
them up and take them over for service to the
temple. He had a son whom he named Ramanuja
who used to assist his father in this service.

RAMANUJA'S REGULATIONS AS TO RESIDENCE AT

TIRUPATI, ETC. The other festivals instituted by
Ramanuja are collected together in the 7th
section. Ramanuja had to make certain regulat-
ions in regard to residents at Tirupati, as that
was considered an act of desecration on the
authority of the Puranas and the Prabandhas,
which he adopted in his own conduct. So he
laid down that those who were engaged in the
immediate service of God should alone reside
on the hill, all else even among the devotees
living at the foot. The second regulation was
that those resident there, and the pilgrims that
go there, all of them should take for food what
was provided by the temple after the temple

305
39

HISTORY OF TIRUPATt

service was over. The third regulation was that
those resident on the hill should not grow flower-
plants for purposes of household worship, but
should use only those used for worship in the
temple. The next regulation was that when one
of the residents on the hill is about to die, he
should be taken down the hill before death.
The next regulation laid down is that the
animals and birds on the hill should not be
killed in hunting as they were regarded as
creatures specially devoted to God. The next
rule laid down is that those going up the hill
should not use vehicles for carrying them, and
should not wear sandals or other protection for
the feet. The whole precincts of the hill were
marked as all the distance from the Kapila Tlrtha
at the foot of the hill to the Svami Pushkaram on
the top, with a radius all round the Svami
Pushkarani of one yojana, seven to eight miles.
It was also laid down that, within this area, no
temples should be built for any other God.
These regulations that Ramanuja made were
put before God himself for His approval by
Tirumalai Nambi and Anantarya, and promul-
gated accordingly.

APPOINTMENT OP BACHELOR SUPERINTENDENT.

For the purpose of carrying out these regulations
and seeing to the regular conduct of worship,

306

SVAM1 PUSHKARINI

( To /ace pa*, 306 )

ORGANISATION OF WORSHIP AT TIRUPATt

etc., Ramanuja wanted a disinterested person as
superintendent. He therefore arranged that a
bachelor of good qualifications should be nomi-
nated for the purpose. The person chosen must
be a man of learning, should be capable of
advising the local ruler, and should be free from
any desire. He therefore nominated a bachelor
accordingly, as prescribed in the ParameSvara
Samhita, gave him the image of Rama for
worship, and entrusted him with the Hanuman
seal, a seal with the device of Hanuman on it for
sealing up the treasury, and was given the key
with which to lock up the temple for the night.
In ordering the affairs regarding the temple, he
was to take advice of Tiumalai Nambi and
Anantarya all the time that their advice was
available. This bachelor was also given a
pennon with a bell-mark as his ensign, and the
Yadavaraja was to support his authority.

FINAL ARRANGEMENTS OF RAMANUJA DURING HIS

LAST VISIT. When again he visited Tirupati
for the last time almost, he found this arrange-
ment working satisfactorily so far. Tirumali
Nambi had passed away some time since, and
Anantarya was getting old ; and he therefore
found the work too much for the bachelor
Sany&sin. He thought it was necessary to give
him two or three assistants, as there was work
enough for three or four. He also wanted that

307

HISTORY OF T1RUPAT1

a special service should be instituted such as is
described in the Tiruvaymoli of Nammalvar.
With a view to this in particular, he set up a
Sanyasin under the name Satakopa Yati, who was
given charge of what the bachelor had hitherto
been doing. Then choosing four bachelors from
among the disciples of Anantarya, he appointed
them to assist this Sanyasin. Advising the
Yadavaraja to see to the affairs of the temple
being managed satisfactorily and instructing
him to act according to the advice of Anantarya,
Ramanuja left Tirupati finally for Srlrangam.
For the future he ordained that the management
should be Anantarya's as long as he lived, and
after him some one of his descendants. The
Satakopa Yati representing Ramanuja himself,
arid some representatives of Tirumalai Nambi to-
gether, should have the whole management. He
also wanted that one of the representatives
should be of the £atamarshana Gotra as
representative of Nadamuni and Yamunacharya.

ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE RECITAL OF THE

PRABANDHA. Some time later Ramanuja passed
away, and, on hearing this, Anantarya set up
an image of Ramanuja with the permission of
God orinivasa, and instituted a festival with the
recital of Ramanuja Nurrandadi (the centum
on Ramanuja) during the Adhyayana Utsavam.
On one occasion one Srirangaraja who used to

808

ORGANISATION OF WORSHIP AT TIRUPATI

recite the Prabandha in orirangam and was also
accustomed to instructing Ramanuja himself in
the Prabandham went on a visit to Tirupati.
On the occasion of his worship in the sanctum,
he sang the Tiruvaymoli of the Alvar. At
the end of it, Grod commanded him to sing a few
verses from the first Alvars, and, having received
the holy water and prasada, he returned to
Tirumali Nambi and Anantarya. Since his
visit the Adhyayana Utsavam in Tirupati was
organised, and the chanting even of Periyalvar's
Tirumoli. He then left for orirangam. To
continue this work a special man was appointed
who came to be called Srl-Saila Vignapti
Karya (the official to make petitions to the God
of the hill) on the analogy of a Srirangaraja
Vignapti Karya, whose function was the recital
of the Tiruvaymoli.

CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE ACCOUNT. These,

according to the Itihasamala, were the arrange-
ments that Ramanuja made in Tirupati for the
conduct of worship in the temple. As would
naturally be expected there is in these things a
certain amount of miracle mixed up with several
matter of fact arrangements. It would be rather
difficult to rationalise over the miracles where
we are actually concerned with the devotees
who believed in them. Any process of rationr

909

HISTORY OF TIRUPATt

alisation of these would seem therefore to be out
of place. We may or may not believe in these.
We have nothing by means of which to say
categorically whether Ramanuja and his com-
panions believed in them or not. We shall have
to leave them there. Even where they are
miracles, the institutions based on them remain.
Therefore we might pass over the miracles side
of it without further notice, and consider, so
far as the history of the temple is concerned,
whether Ramanuja did or could have done all
that is ascribed to him. We have already
indicated that, in less than a century of time,
some of these institutions get to be referred
to in inscriptional records in parts of the
Tirupati temple which may not be altogether
late structures, Tirupati having received com-
paratively little addition till much later times.
From what we have already stated above, we
have enough justification for taking it that
Ramanuja did play an important part in the
organisation of worship in the temple at Tirupati,
and that he had occasion to do it at the time
indicated. The Venkatachala Itihasamclla seems
to be a work composed at a period much later
than Ramanuja, it may be ; but even so, it
records the traditions coming down to the time,
and, at the very best, it would be a mere effort
at explaining the institutions that actually

310

ORGANISATION OF WORSHIP AT TIRUPATI

existed in the temple. So the institutions were
there, whether the origin of these had anything
miraculous to support it or not. For instance,
the miraculous occurrences in connection with
Anantarya a modern reader may well consider
could not have been readily believed in the time
of Ramanuja. Even this would be taking too
much for granted. Devotees do believe in
miracles, and, if they do believe in them and set
up institutions in consequence, it is none of our
business to call the institutions of festivals them-
selves unhistorical. We shall perhaps see, in
the course of the whole history of the temple,
that these institutions existed, at least there are
records mentioning them— almost from a century
after the date of Ramanuja. We shall discuss
those details when they come before us in our
further consideration of this history. For the
present we may take it that many of these
institutions had either been in existence before
Ramanuja, or had been newly brought into
existence by Ramanuja, or were by him, put on
a footing of permanence.

811

CHAPTER XIII.

THE LAST CHOLAS AND THEIR SUCCESSORS.
A GAP IN OUR KNOWLEDGE, A. D. 1150-1255. The

period of active life of Ramaiiuja comes to a close
in the middle of the 12th century, and the last
date for him may therefore be taken to be
roughly A. D. 1150. The first Chola inscription
of this period that we come upon in the region
of Tirupati is that of Rajaraja III referable to
the year A. D. 1235. Between these two dates,
there seems to be a gap, as it were, of about
three generations. We have seen already that a
Yadavaraya ruler of the locality was of great
assistance to Ramanuja, and had rendered
valuable services both to Ramanuja and to the
temple at Tirupati. According to the inscrip-
tional records of the period, we find a Yadava
Ghattideva holding a position both under
Vikrama Chola and his successor Kulottunga,
and the available records of his do not seem to
go much beyond A. D. 1140. But these records
indicate that he had sons, one of whom has left
records referable to a period somewhat late in
the reign of Kulottunga III which would take us
to the eighties of the 12th century. These
records have reference to one son. Possibly he

312

THE LAST OHO LAS AND THEIR SUCCESSORS

had others who may have held the subordinate
government in succession to the father, although
no records of them have so far come down to
us. The history of the locality therefore seems
to be deeply associated with the fortunes of
these Yadavarayas, as we see one Vira Narasimha
Yadavaraya, with the Chalukya titles, wielding
great power and exercising authority over an
extensive area including the region with which
we are concerned. The names of a number of
Yadavarayas, including that of Vira Narasimha,
occur in a large number of inscriptions in
Tirupati itself and places dependent upon it
and adjacent to it. To understand the history
of the Tirupati temple therefore it would be
necessary to understand the history of these
Yadavarayas.

RISE OF THE FEUDATORIES : YADAVARAYAS AMONG

THEM. But the Yadavarayas were not alone
exclusively connected with this region. There
are a few records of Telugu Cholas as they
claim descent from the ancient Chola Karikala,
sometimes called Pottappi Cholas, and another
dynasty which goes by the name Telugu
Pallavas, as they claim descent from Mukkanti
Kaduvetti, sometimes Trinetra Pallava, giving
themselves the gotra and the titles of the Pallavas
of Kanchi. It is in this tangle that we find
the intrusion of a certain number of records

818
40

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

connected with the Hoysalas — and two or three
of the greater officers of the Hoysala Vlra Ballala
figure even in the inscriptions at Tirupati — a
fairly clear indication of the extension of Hoysala
influence, if not of actual suzerain authority,
over the region. This complication has to be
clearly analysed before we can deal with the
history of Tirupati during this period. Very
unfortunately our information for the period
from inscriptions generally is comparatively
scanty. We do not know much about what was
taking place in the Chola empire itself under
the Cholas, Kulottunga II and his successor
Rajaraja II occupying between them the period
A. D. 1133 to 1163, when the succession passed
to a collateral branch of the Chola dynasty
under Rajadhiraja II, whose period of reign was
A. D. 1163 to 1178. He was followed by the
great ruler Kulottunga III, A. D. 1178-1216,
followed by his son Rajaraja III, A. D. 1216 to
1246 followed by Rajendra III, whose records
reach up to A. D. 1267 as active ruler, and
A. D. 1279 nominally. We have noticed already
that the territory with which we are particularly
concerned had been associated with Vikrama
Chola as a prince, more or less intimately, and
perhaps opened the way by virtue of his special
connection as viceroy of this region for the
accession to power of a new family of rulers

THE LAST CHOLAS AND THEIR SUCCESSORS

certainly related to the Eastern Chalukyas, and
may have belonged to a collateral branch of the
ruling family. They very probably continued
to hold the region in a feudatory capacity, but
like feudatories generally, not keenly regardful
of the suzerain authority, when the holders of
that authority themselves got involved in a
struggle for existence. This attitude seems to
have come about more or less gradually, as a
new feudatory power began to assert itself in
the region of South Arcot District. They come
into prominence somewhat later in this period,
but were gradually building up that position in the
region round Cuddalore. The most distinguished
member of this dynasty who contributed very
largely to the decline of the Chola authority
under Rajaraja III was a person known by the
name Ko-Perunjinga. The rise of this feudatory
power immediately to the North facilitated to
some extent the assumption of independence or
semi-independence in the feudatories farther
north. Hence it is that we find the Yadavarayas
gradually giving up all references to the suzerain
authority in their records, from the reign of
Kulottunga Chola II onwards, though not always
and uniformly. Tirupati and its history got
therefore in a way peculiarly associated with the
fortunes of the Yadavarayas, whose history we
shall have to consider as a necessary preliminary.

SI*

&ISTORY OF TIRUPATt

THE ACTUAL FEUDATORY FAMILIES. We Sug-
gested already that the Chola-Chalukya war
between Kulottunga I of the Cholas and the
Chalukya Vikramaditya VI, which perhaps came
to an end in the last years of the llth century,
and perhaps received a definitive determination
of the frontier between the two by A. D, 1116,
helped to bring into prominence these feudatory
families. The names of several of these could
be traced in the inscriptions of the reign of
Vikrama Chola definitely. Under his successor
Kulottunga 11 almost the same families are
found mentioned prominently. They occupy
positions, 110 doubt of importance, but there
is one little noteworthy feature in connection
with them ; they seem as yet capable of being
transferred from one sphere of activity to
another. While therefore they might be regarded
as feudatories holding portions of land under the
rulers in different localities, so long as this
transfer was possible they must be regarded
more or less as officials. But we could see, in
the course of the generation following the early
years of Kulottunga II, the gradual change that
the families get associated with their territories,
and their authority being even confined to the
actual territories over which they wielded
authority. This it is that transforms them
from a body of officials, however great, into

316

T&E LAST OHOLAS AND THEIR SUCCESSORS

regular feudatories holding particular portions of
territory and changing their fealty to their
suzerain as circumstances changed. This trans-
formation is undoubtedly a gradual process, and
was taking place, during the reigns of both
Kulottunga II and Rajaraja II — a period, which
is essentially one of peace. While the Ganga
frontier thus got definitely settled as was stated
before, the frontier immediately to the north of
the Chola territory was not exactly in that
condition. Over the Eastern Chalukya territory
proper, the power of the Western Chajukya
Vikrmaditya spread rapidly during the period of
the war ; and while considerable success had
been attained in the reign of Vikrama Chola in
the recovery of all these territories where Chola
officers held rule during his reign acknowledging
his authority without question, a number of
families gain prominence as feudatories. The
families that figure in the inscriptions of this
reign are the Pallava family of Kudal (Cuddalore)
in the South Arcot District ; immediately to the
north of them, the family of the Sambuvarayans
was coming into prominence in the Palar basin
between Vellore and the farther north ; then
there was the family of the Malayamans round
Tirukkovilur, sometimes called Sedirayans. We
also hear of a lord of the Senjiyar, people in the
territory of Senji (Ginji). Further north of

817

HISTORY OF T1RUPAT1

these a number of chieftains are referred to
under Vikrama Chola named the Salukkis of
Tondamandalam. Further north of these were
the Pottappi Cholas. Then figure the names of a
certain number of chieftains called Gangeyas.
Then comes the Mahamandalesvara Grhattideva.
Even farther north the lord of Kollipakka
happens to be mentioned. This Grhattideva
belonged to the family of the Yadavarayas, who
claim descent from the Sasikula Chalukkis. One
of them by name Naranadeva is traceable in the
records of the reign of Vlrarajendra. All these
families in the locality continued more or less in
the reign of Kulottunga, and his successor.
Only we see certain changes due to transfers.
But otherwise it becomes clear that, in this
period, there were a large number of powerful
feudatories who interposed themselves between
the Chola headquarters and the local administra-
tions, which gradiially developed so as to
make themselves intermediate powers, more and
more identifiable as local rulers, throwing the
authority of the Chola rulers into the back-
ground.

THE YADAVARAYA FAMILY IN THIS PERIOD. Of

these feudatory families the one that is most
frequently associated with Tirupati is the family
of the Yadavarayas who seem to have been

918

THE LAST CHOLAS AND THEIR SUCCESSORS

imperial officers of great importance to begin
with, and exercising authority over a vast extent
of the empire of the Cholas. Among them
Vira Narasinga Yadavaraya with various titles,
indicating more or less his gradual rise to
importance, is the most distinguished. But there
are a certain number of other Yadavarayas
besides, whose names also figure, as in fact the
names of the members of other dynasties such as
the Gandagopalas, the Telugu Cholas and even
others. These various names appearing in the
inscriptional records of Tirupati during the same
period would go to indicate that they were all
officers of dignity, under the empire of the
Cholas or Pandyas according to time, who made
donations to the temple, perhaps without being
necessarily associated with the rule of the
locality containing Tirupati. But the records of
the Yadavaraya Vira Narasinga and just one or
two others would indicate that, in their particular
case, the association was very much more than
that of officials who were donors of importance.
We may therefore take note of the names of this
dynasty that figure in this connection, with their
dates as far as they are ascertainable, so as to
be able to locate them properly.

We referred already to the Yadava ruler
Q-hattideva as probably the Yadavaraya who

519

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

assisted Ramaimja in various matters connected
with the hill-shrine of Tirupati in connection with
the claim of the Saivas, and the arrangements,
that he made subsequently. It was also probably
he who assisted Ranianuja to build the shrine of
Govindaraja in Lower Tirupati and who laid out
the Agrahfira, Ramaiiujapuram round it in
honour of Ramanuja, although we have not
come upon any record of these associations of
Ghattideva. His known dates, the 17th year of
Vikrama Chola and the 6th year of Kulottunga,
or A. D. 1135 to 1139, would leave but little
doubt in regard to the matter. From this last
date A. D. 1139 almost to the year A. D. 1235
there is a gap in these ins 'riptional records
which we could hardly till. That is just the
period of the rule of Rajaraja H succeeded by
Rajadhiraja, and then again by Knlottunga III.
The whole of the reign of Rajadhiraja and
the first years of Kulottunga were occupied
completely with the war ot Pandya succession

in which the Cholas took one side and the

••

Ceylonese the other. So the imperial preoccupa-
tion was altogether this, and we might almost
say the face of the Chola monarchs remained set
towards the south during the whole of this
period, with the exception of the few years of
Rajaraja II, whose reign appears to have been
one essentially of peace. Then the name of a

320

THE LAST CEOLAS AND THEIR SUCCESSORS

Yadavaraya that we come upon with dates in the
7th year of Kulottunga III, and in the llth
and 15th years of Rajaraja III or the period
A. D. 1185 to 1231, is that of a Tirukkalattideva
Yadavaraya, not to be mistaken with the Telugu
Chola of the same name. We have a son of his
by name £iriyapillai with the title Virarakshasa
Yadavaraya, and date A. D. 1198. A son of
Grhattideva by name Rajamalla Yadavaraya
appears with dates in the 31st year of Kulot-
tunga III and the 21st year of Rajaraja III,
A. D. 1209 to 1237. He is followed by a son of
his with the date in the 19th year of Rajaraja,
A. D. 1235 by name Kasanmai, rather a peculiar
name, and then we come to Vira Narasinga
Yadavaraya.

YADAVA VIRA NARASINGA AND HIS SUCCESSORS.

This name occurs as that of an important officer
of the Chola empire under Kulottunga III and
the earlier years of Rajaraja III, his authority
extending practically all over the region of
Tondamandalam. The authority that he exer-
cised perhaps would bear the inference that he
was something of a superior governor, whose
authority prevailed over that of local governors
of the divisions under him, which, in his time,
would have been practically the northern half
of the Chola empire. The earliest record of his

321

HISTORY OF TIRUPAT1

that we know of refers to the 31st year of
Knlottunga III, that is A. D. 1209, and the latest
takes us on to the 14th year of Rajaraja III
which would mean A. D. 1230 ; and then there
is one of the 12tli~ year of Jatavarman Sundra
Pandya I which would mean A. D. 1262 — 63, so
that he seems to have wielded his authority
and held his position during the long period
A. D. 1209 to 1263 at least. His inscriptions are
numerous in the temple of Tirupati itself, and
he had undertaken and executed some large
works in connection with the temple. There are
three other names of Yadavarayas that occur,
Grhattideva II, during the period A. D. 1224-27
in the reign of Rajaraja III, Tiruvengadanatha
Yadavaraya, whose dates are from the 8th to the
12th year taken to be his own. But these dates
might as well be those of Vira Narasinga, whose
son-in-law he sems to have been from an
expression in one of the inscriptions, Maruhanar
occurring in inscription No. 102, which ought to
be applied to him. We shall revert to that
later. He is followed by another oriranganatha
Yadavaraya, whose dates are comprised between
the years A. D. 1336 and 1355, It will be seen
that, considering merely the dates, these last
three Yadavarayas figure in the period in which
Vira Narasinga's authority prevailed, as was
stated above. While these may have been

322

TBE LAST CHOLAS AND THEIR SUCCESSORS

princes of the royal family of the Yadavas, their
spheres of office must have been those of local
governors under the supervision of the higher
officer Vira Narasinga Yadavaraya. We shall
now proceed to consider what light the
inscriptions throw upon their associations with
Tirupati.

INSCRIPTIONS OP THE YADAVARAYAS UNDER

CHOLA RULE. Notwithstanding the fact that
several of these Yadavarayas were contem-
poraries of Kulottunga III, and could be ascribed
to his reign, there are no inscriptions in
Tirupati which refer themselves to the reign of
Kulottunga III explicitly. This is probably to
be accounted for by the fact that, in the earlier
years of Kulottunga and for the far greater part
of his reign clearly, he was occupied in the
south with wars against the Pandyas and the
Ceylonese ; and, though subsequently we know
that he was very active and brought the empire
back substantially to allegiance to him, it is just
possible that the northern portions of the empire
had not been so completely brought back again
to the same sense of duty as the other portions
of the empire. Consequently these northern
chiefs conducted themselves as if they were
their own masters. We shall refer, as we
proceed, to such inscriptions as may be referable
to his reign from the mere dating whenever it is

32*

HISTORY OF TIRUPATl

possible. But among the inscriptions included
in Volume I of the Devastanam Inscriptions,
the first is No. 34 referring itself plainly to
Rajaraja III, and probably to his 5th year, which
would mean A. D. 1221, and refers to the digging
of a tank in Tirucchanur, where the inscription
is found, by an officer of the treasury by name
Pandyataraiyau. The grant itself refers to the
gift of a piece of land to the temple. No. 3B
refers to the 7th year of Rajaraja, and refers to
the temple at Yogimallavaram, and refers to the
same officer as above, whose son-in-law Vira
Narasingadeva Yadavaraya is said to have been-
It refers to a grant by this officer in honour of
one Narayana Pillai, who fell in the battle of
Uratti, fighting on the side of the Yadavaraya,
and seems to imply that he laid his life
in defence of the Yadavaraya. The Pan<Jya-
taraiyan bought the piece of land for gold under
the new tank Narayana, and made it over to
the temple for the offer of worship at ArdhayZma
(overnight), and for taking out the God in
procession. This was made over, under sanction
of a letter from Pillaiyar Yadavarayar, that is,
Vira Narasinga Yadavaraya, and acknowledged
as such by the Vaishgava Brahmans in charge
of the temple. Vira Narasinga Yadavaraya, it
should be remembered, figures here as the
son-in-law of the officer concerned. The battle

384

VISHNU'S Discus AT THE FRESH WATER TANK

AT TlRUPATI TOWN ( To fact

324 )

TSE LAST OHOLAS AND THEItt SUCCESSORS

of Uratti must have taken place before the 7th
year of Rajaraja, and probably was fought
for by the Yadavaraya on the one side as
against enemies. The next one, No. 36, comes
from the same temple and is dated the 9th
year of Rajaraja. This is an interesting grant
and refers to an arrangement made in the 23rd
year of Rajaraja I by a Jayamkonda Chola
Brahmamarayan, who paid 26 kalanju of gold
for the purpose of celebrating an ablution on the
Uttarayana Sankramana (about the middle of
January) day every year. This had apparently
not been done. When the matter was brought
to the notice of Vlra Narasinga Yadavaraya, he
made the necessary enquiry, and, finding the
facts as stated, ordered that the money might be
taken over into the treasury of the temple, and
arrangements made for the celebration of the
festival by the Sabha of the village. The next
inscription has reference to the same year, and
seems to refer more or less to the gift in the
previous grant for the ablution of the God on the
Uttarayana Sankramana, and gives details of how
the income had to be expended, and is an
acknowledgment by the Sabha of their respon-
sibility in regard to this matter. The next one
No. 38 belongs to the 14th year of Rajaraja, and
refers to the same temple and the same officer
Pa£<Jyataraiyan, who is described as a treasurer,

326

S1STORT OF TIRUPAT1

son of one Andar, who was a lion to those of
other faiths, and as holding the office of the
Superintendent of the Matha attached to the
temple, and refers to a gift of land under the
tank Vira Narasingadeva, in whose name it was
repaired and put in order by his father-in-law,
the Pandyataraiyan referred to. The revenues
in paddy and in gold from some of this land was
made the capital for the celebration of certain
festivals in the temple. The land was made
over to the JTravar, the governing body of the
town, who agreed to conduct the festival for all
time from the income. This was agreed to
by the governing body of Munnaippundi, and
attested by the accountant of the temple under
the Mahasabha of Yogimallavaram. The next
following inscription has reference to the temple
accountant, mentioned in the above record, who
is said to have set up an image of GaneSa. The
document is incomplete. That again is a
document in Yogimallavaram. With No. 40 we
come on to the Qovindaraja shrine, which, it
will be remembered, was actually constructed,
at the instance of Ramanuja, by a former
Yadavaraya to house the images carried away
from Chidambaram when the ruling Chola
ordered the Govindaraja shrine to be removed
from there. The document is prefaced, " in
accordance with the oral orders of the Kmg, "

826

THE LAST OHOLAS AND THEIR SUCCESSORS

and is dated in the 19th year of Rajaraja III. It
states that on a particular day in the month
of Karttika of the year, the Periyanattavar
(the big assembly of the division) assembled in
the Ilangovil of the locality, what is now the
Alamelumanga shrine, and refers to a resolution
that they came to. The resolution had reference
to the provision by the Periyanattar, for the
daily offerings to Tirumangai Slvar, who is
described as Karalar Karpakam (the wish-giving
tree among the Karalar), Karalar being an
agricultural Kallar community. A shrine had
been built for this Alvar in the Govindaraja
temple, and, as a provision for the daily worship
had been omitted to be made, this omission had
been made good by a certain number of people.
It is interesting to note the first name is Sri
Satakopadasa, (a devotee of Nammalvar) and
Kolli Kavalidasa (the first part has reference
to 5.1var Kulasekhara), The third name is
one Aruvar-anayakovil Pillai, and the last is
a Kalikanridasa (the first part being one of
the names of the Tirumangai SJlvar himself).
A certain amount of land was made over for the
purpose, the cultivators of which had to make
over a certain measure of paddy for each patti.
This was made over in the name of Govinda
Perumal to the managers of the treasury of
Tiruvengadamu<Jaiyan, the God on the hill.

327

HISTORY OF T1RUPATI

This was the order of the governing body of
Tirukkudavur, and was to be a perpetual grant.
This charitable gift received the approval of
the Periyanattavar, the governing body of the
Periyanadu, and was attested by their Velan,
that is, the hereditary writer of the division.
No. 41 is an imperfect document, but refers itself
clearly to the days of Rajaraja, and makes
mention of the Yadavaraya as well as the
Narayanan ' who fell formerly ', apparently
referring to the Narayana Pillai who fell in the
battle of Uratti. No. 42 is an inscription in the
temple at Tirupati, and refers to the 6th year of
Allan Tirukkalattideva. The other details are
gone, but what is left is enough to indicate
it was a grant by Madhurantaka Pottappi
Tirukkalattideva. From this we pass on to the
documents referring to Sundara Pandya I.

THE REIGN OF RAJARAJA HI AND THE DECLINE OP

THE CHOLA POWER. We have already stated
that the Chola Kulottunga III ceased to rule in
A. D. 1216 or somewhat later, but was succeeded
by Rajaraja III in that year, either as joint ruler
or in his own right. Rajaraja's rule extended
from that date to the year A. D. 1346 without a
doubt, and there are dociiments referring to
his reign for a number of years afterwards
even. We come upon inscriptions of a certain

388

THE LAST OBOLAS AND THEIR SUCCESSORS

Rajendra III from A. D. 1246 onwards, or even
somewhat earlier. Whether he succeeded
Rajaraja III and what his actual relation to
Rajaraja was, we do not know for certain. But
from what we gather from the inscriptions of the
time, it looks as though he were a brother of
Rajaraja III, who played his own part in the last
years of Rajaraja Ill's feeble reign to regain to
some extent the power and prestige of the ruling
family of the Cholas. The Pandya wars,
which had remained the preoccupation of
Kulottunga III through practically the whole
length of his reign, seem to have continued
more or less notwithstanding the drastic punish-
ment inflicted upon the defeated Pandya by
Kulottunga. The great humiliation the Pandyas
suffered only whetted their appetite for revenge,
and, throughout the reign of Rajaraja III, he
had to suffer humiliation at the hands of the
Pandya, almost from the outset of his reign.
Jatavarman Kulasekhara Pandya was the last
contemporary of Kulottunga III, and was
succeeded by Maravarman Sundara Pandya,
who came to the throne in A. D. 1216. Mara-
varman almost immediately set out on an
invasion of the Chola country and claimed to
have conquered it, burning the capitals of
Tanjore and Uraiyur. All through his reign
and that of his successor Maravarman Sundara

329

HISTORY OF T1RUPATI

Pa$dya II, the Chola territory and Chola
authority were alike reduced to the lowest
position. This attack from outside was taken
advantage of by the discontented feudatories
within, among whom the Kadavas with their
head-quarters, first at Cuddalore and then at
£endamangalarn, played the chief part. There
were some loyalists among the feudatories farther
north, who fought against the Kadavas and
their allies. Among them figure the names of
Vlra Narasinga Yadavaraya, and a certain
number of other chiefs in his neighbourhood.
This war against the Kadava was not so very much
to restore the authority of the Chola emperor
but to prevent the Kadava lording it over them,
and showed respect for the central authority
as a matter of form more or less. The position
of the Chola emperor became precarious in
the 2nd or 3rd year of his reign, and it was
the timely intervention of the Hoysala ruler
Narasimha II, who was related to the Chola
family, that saved the situation for the time
being, by releasing Rajaraja from prison into
Tvhich he was thrown by the Kadava. The
attack therefore from the south by the Pandya,
and from the Kadava in the interior immediately
to the north of the country alike, made the
position of the Chola monarch precarious in the
extreme, and, in the next following years, the

330

THE LAST CHOLAS AND THEIR SUCCESSORS

Hoysalas found it necessary to be constantly
on the alert in his defence. They felt it
necessary therefore to establish themselves nea£
Siirangam where, on the northern bank of the
Coleroon, they fortified the town of Kannanur,
and erected for themselves a capital which they
named Vikramapnra. It was through the good
offices of the Hoysala that Rajaraja was able
to maintain some semblance of power. When
Rajendra III comes to notice we see him acting
as if he were impatient of this tutelage of the
reigning Chola monarch, and, as if he were
exerting himself to vindicate the Chola prestige
and authority, as against the Hoysala and the
Pandya together. But the years were years
of constant war and turmoil, so that there was
not much chance of the Cholas being left in
peace.

JATAVARMAN SUNDARA PANDYA. In these

circumstances Jatavarman Siindara Pandya I
ascended the throne in succession to Maravarman
Sundara Pandya II. He was a powerful ruler
and very warlike. He started on a campaign
against the Chola territory, but primarily against
the Hoysala monarchs who seem to have been,
at the time related both to the Cholas and the
Pandyas. In the course of a decade, he had
succeeded in defeating the Hoysalas, and along

331

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

with them the Cholas, the Kadava feudatory of
the Cholas and even the more powerful among
the feudatories farther north who held possession
of Kanchi and the territory dependent thereon.
Marching farther north, he brought into
subordination to him, the northern provinces
of the Chola empire reaching as far as the
Krishna and celebrating the anointment of
heroes in as far north a place as Nellore. So
during his reign he had successfully brought
the Chola empire under his authority ; and
those of the feudatories of the Cholas who were
prudent, had to acknowledge his authority and
pay allegiance to him. The inscriptions referring
to his time naturally therefore have to be issued
more or less with his countenance, if not his
authority almost. The inscriptions in Tirupati
which refer to him give evidence of the complete-
ness with which he imposed his authority over
the Chola empire.

SUNDARA PANDYA'S INSCRIPTIONS. The first

record in this volume of inscriptions ascribed to
him is No. 43 in the hill shrine at Tirupati.
There is nothing in the record to indicate that
it was of Sundara Pandya's, the only reference
being that it was a letter (plai) written by a
Yadavaraya, on the authority of a communi-
cation from the N&yanar. Presumably therefore

332

THE LAST CHOLAS AND THEIR SUCCESSORS

the Yadavaraya referred to is Vlra Narasinga
Yadavaraya, and the Nayanar is probably
Sundara Paijdya. The despatch was received by
the governing body of Kudavur Nadu, Tonda-
padi Parru, Aharapparyu? and a person described
as Variya Vimanattan who exercised supervision
over something. Then it records the action
that they took, with effect from the third
year, in connection with the Tiru-Ilankovil, the
Vaishnava temple at Tirucchaimr. It is the grant
of the revenues to the temple, the details of
which are gone. The next one, 44, is from the
same place. It refers, of course, to a communi-
cation from Nayanar Vlra Narasinga Deva, and
refers to the grant, as dating from the 12th
year of Sundara Pandya, a clear indication
of the recognition of his authority. It is the
granting of the land as sarvamanya, detailing
the revenue derivable therefrom, to constitute
the funds from the income of which a certain
kind of food-service was to be made to the God
in the temple. No. 45 of the same place begins
with a clear Prasasti in Sanskrit of Sundara
Parjdya, which credits him with the achieve-
ments usually ascribed to him in his inscriptions.
They may be set down as some of them seem
to be not quite so usual. He is described as an
ornament of the Somakula (dynasty of the moon),
a Madhava of the city of Madura, destroyer

333

HISTORY OF TIRUPAT1

of the family of Kerala, one who caused the
destruction of the city of Lanka, a second Rama,
a hammer that broke the hill of the Chola
family, a Kutapakala fever to the Kataka (this
word is gone in the inscription), the destroyer
of the various hill forts of enemies, a wild forest-
fire burning to destruction the forest of Vira
Gandagopala (Vira here being perhaps a general
epithet as the person who suffered in this event
is known as Vijaya Gandagopala), lord of the
excellent city of Kanchi ; and then follow the
general titles, Maharajadhiraja, Paramesvara,
and Tribhuvanachakravarti followed by the
name Sundara Pandya, The document refers
itself to the year opposite to the 14th year of
the Perumal, that is, Sundara Pandya. The
grant portion is gone. No. 46 gives a different
kind of PraSasti, only speaking of the prowess
of Sundara Pandya. But the point of import-
ance here is that it makes a distinction between
Vijaya Gandagopala, whom he killed, and Vira
Gandagopala to whom he gave the kingdom
of the other. The grant portion here is gone.
No. 48 refers to Sundara Pandya having killed
a certain Andhrefivara. This is followed by a
iloka that he established Vijaya Gandagopala;
probably this Andhresvara is no other than
Vijaya Gandagopala. No. 49 refers to Sundara
Pandya setting up a kalasa on the temple at

334

THE LAST CHOLAS AND THEIR SUCCESSORS

Kanchi. No. 50 is too far gone to make much
out of it, except that he had an anointment of
heroes after killing an Andhresvara. No. 51
is a Tamil verse giving almost the same idea as
No. 50 and refers to Vada Kanchi-mandalam, the
equivalent of Adhi Kanchi in the previous record.
It seems to refer almost to the same event.
No. 52 also is similarly gone except of course
for a reference to the Kataka, that is, the ruler
Kopperunjinga of Cuddalore and Sendamangalani?
and a reference to a Vlrabhisheka. No. 53 is a
reference to a Ganapati, certainly the Kakatlya
ruler Ganapati. No. 54 refers to Chakravarti
Sundara Pandya, and gives a part of the Prasasti
containing the name Vira Gandagopala. No. 55
again is a fragment of the Prasasli in which
his putting to flight a Karnataka Raja, and the
re-establishment of some other king are men-
tioned. These are the records that have any
reference to Sundara Pandya. The (act that
they are all found on the hill shrine and are
built in various parts of the temple indicates
clearly that Jatavarnuin Sundara Pandya's rule
was well acknowledged by the rulers of this
region who found it to their interest to declare
openly their allegiance. So Sundara Pandya's
authority prevailed in a real sense over the region
of north Kanchi as it is described.

335

HISTORY OF T1RUPATI

The next two inscriptions Nos. 57 and 58 in
this Section of Volume I of the Devastanam
Inscriptions have reference to the building of
the Alvar shrine on the banks of the tank called
Kapila Tlrtham at the foot of the hill. The
first document merely says that the tower,
the pavilion and the hall for the Alvar were
constructed by one Vaneduttakai Alagiyan of
Tunjalur in the middle division of Milalaikkurram
in the Pandya country. The next one is a
Sanskrit sloka referring to the Alvar being
established there, of the great services to human-
ity that he rendered by making accessible
in Tamil the recondite teaching of the Veda,
obviously a reference to Nammalvar ; but the
name is gone, as the document is not complete-
It is not quite clear why these two documents
are grouped in this section. It is likely that
they refer to the time, although there is nothing
to warrant that.

INSCRIPTIONS OP GANDAGOPALA IN TIRUPATI.

The next section of this volume of inscriptions
has reference to a number of chieftains belonging
to the various families such as the Telugu
Pallavas, Yadavarayas, and others. These have
ught in here as from such detail as may
fte in regard to time, they are referable
to this vtWfiod and undoubtedly to this region.

336

THE LAST G HO LAS AND THEIR SUCCESSORS

The first family is that of the Telugu Pallavas,
two members of which figure prominently during
the period. They seem to be, from certain
Tamil records, undoubtedly brothers, namely,
Vijaya Gandagopala and Vira Gandagopala.
They seem to have been rulers associated with
Kanchi, and the districts north of it. Of these
two Vijaya Gandagopala was put to death, as
the result of a battle, by Jatavarman Sundara
Tandy a in the year A. D. 1250-51, and his
territory, a number of records say, he made
over to his younger brother, Vira Gandagopala.
Records of Vijaya Gandagopala extend over a
period of more than a decade previous to his
death. His successor Vira Gandagopala ruled
for a long period after A. D. 1251 continuing
almost to the end of the century. The relation
between these, and Vira Narasinga Yadavaraya
whose period was coeval, is not clearly stated
in these records ; but it seems to be more or
less that these chieftains made their donations
to the temple at Tirupati, although holding
official positions which may not directly associate
them with Tirupati. These documents when
they give dates refer themselves to these actual
rulers without any reference to a suzerain. The
first of such documents is No. 59 in the hill
shrine referring itself to the ninth year. The
beginning is gone and we have got only

337
43

BISTORT OF TIRVPATI

Gopaladeva, presumably Vijaya Gandagopala as
his name occurs immediately after. The grant
has reference to the gift of 33 cows and a
bull for the purpose of a perpetual lamp in the
temple by one Ammaiyappan of the Kasyapa
(jotra who was on duty at the gate of Vijaya
Gandagopala. Ko. 60 has reference to the
ninth year, but the ruler's name is gone, and
mentions a certain chieftain by name Villa varaya
with possibly the name Tirukkalattideva. No. 01
refers actually to Vijaya Gandagopala, and to
what seems his fourteenth year. It is in the
Govindaraja shrine, and makes provisions for
certain food-service during the Vaikasi festival
to the God on the hill. The grant was made
over to the treasury of the temple, apparently
the temple on the hill. No. 62 belongs to the
hill shrine, and refers to a Singadeva alias
Villavarayan, an immediate attendant who made
the gift of a lamp, by name, Sundarattoludaiyan,
No. 63 belongs to the hill shrine as well, and
refers to a Per 'uwand idem Arasiyar, the princess
(the consort of our Lord King), who made a gift.
What that is, is gone. The record begins with
Vijaya Gandagopala, probably in reference to
the year, but that is gone. No. 64 again belongs
to the hill temple and refers to a grant of cows
for the lamp (same number of cows for a
perpetual lamp). No. 65 in the same temple

338

THE LAST CHOLAS AND THEIR SUCCESSORS

refers to a ruler Tripurantaka. No. 66 similarly
refers to a Brahmasetti and a Brahmamdrayan.
All else in the inscription is gone. No. 67 in the
same temple refers itself clearly to Vijaya
Gandagopala. Here again part is gone. A
certain oilman Amarakkon, probably a son of
Kattari, resident of Narayanapuram, made over
32 cows and a bull for the purpose of one perpetual
lamp and a certain amount of money for a
camphor lamp as well. No. 68 similarly refers to
Vijaya Gandagopala, and refers to a grant of
450 panam^ which was placed under the protection
of the £ri Vaishnavas. No. 69 refers to a similar
grant in the reign of Vijaya Gandagopala specifi-
cally. No. 7o is a similar grant also of a gift of
440 mrahas by the fraliyars, dyers and weavers,
of Vikramapura belonging to Atreya gotra.
No. 71 is a similar grant by the Saliyars. No. 72
is the same and refers itself to the time of Vijaya
Gandagopala, but the goira of the Saliyars is
given as Vishnu gotra. No. 73 is too far gone
to make anything out of it. No. 74 is important
as it refers to the festivals of Chittirai and
PurattaSi of Tiruvengadamudaiyan. These
were both of them festivals of long standing, the
latter of which is referred to by the early Slvars
themselves. It makes provision for a grant for
a food-service as prescribed in the Tiruppaval of
Andal. This festival was organised by Ramanuja,

339

HISTORY OF T1RUPAT1

and, according to the Sri Venkatachala Itihasa-
mala, it was not in existence before. For the
requirements of this service, a certain number
of gold coins called Gaiidagopalan Madai were
made over from the interest of which the annual
expenses were to be met. No. 75 is mutilated.
No. 76 refers itself to the time of Vijaya
Gandagopala as does the next one 77. The first
refers to to a perpetual lamp on the day of the
Uttarashada Nakshatra, and the next one refers
to a money gift. The other details are gone.
No. 78 refers to the fifth year and PurattSsi
month, and a gift of three madai. The other
details are gone. No. 79 refers itself to the days
of Vijaya Gandagopala, and has reference to the
flower-garden in the name of a Pandya, probably
Sundara Pandya, and refers to the gift of
200 kuli of land. It refers in one of the following
passages to Ramanuja and Emberumanar, and
makes the gift of 500 varahapaya for certain
items of expenditure. Record No. 80 is a Tamil
verse glorifying Raja Gandagopala, and says in
so many words that there was nobody who did
not benefit by the liberality of Gandagopala
among those " who put their hands below " for
receiving his gift. It thus becomes clear that
the grants, Nos. 59 to 80, almost all of them
being in the hill shrine, refer themselves to
the time of Gandagopala, Vijaya Gandagopala

340

THE LAST CEO LAS AND THEIR SUCCESSORS

obviously. As we already stated, his period
of authority came to a close almost with the
first year of Jatavarman Sundara Pandya, and
whatever the length of his reign we have records
of about ten to twelve years. These records
refer to a time before A. D. 1251. We pass on
to the records of other rulers, those of the
Yadavarayas in particular.

341

CHAPTER XIV.

THE Y AD AV Aft AY AS.
YADAVARAYA INSCRIPTIONS IN TIRUPATI. The

Yadavaraya inscriptions in Volume I of the
Tirumalai-Tirupati Devastanam Inscriptions take
up Nos. 81 to 117 followed by a batch of
miscellaneous inscriptions going up to No. 177-
The inscriptions thereafter refer themselves to
the empire of Vijayanagar. We might take the
Yadavaraya inscriptions first. The first record
No. 81 comes from the temple of Tirupati, and
is by one Tirukkajattidevan, giving himself all
the titles usual to the Yadavarayas making it
clear that he is not to be confounded with
the Telugu Cholas of the name, and is the
grant of a sarwmanya village to the temple of
Tiruvengadamudaiyaii. This does not refer
itself to any suzerain, Cliola or other, and does
not even give a direct date, although it seems to
refer to the nineteenth year of the reign. But
one cannot be sure whether it is the nineteenth
year of this Yadavaraya or any suzerain of his.
We pass on to No. 82 in the same place, which
seems to refer itself definitely, although the
name is gone, to the reign of Tribhuvana
Chakravartigal Kulottunga Choladeva. The

342

THE YADAVARAYAS

name of the Chola, however, is gone, and
refers to the fifteenth year. It is a gift by a
Virarakshasa Yadavaraya, whose proper name,
though given in the record, is gone. This
probably refers to the Virarakshasaraya of other
records, a son of Tirukkalattideva, by name
Singa Filial, prince Singa, who had this title.
The fifteenth year of Kulottunga would corres-
pond to A. D. 1193. If the nineteenth year of
the previous record is to be taken to be the
nineteenth year of Kulottunga, it would mean
A. D. 1197, four years after that of his son. It
would be nothing strange as the records of this
Tirukkalattideva range from the seventh year
of Kulottunga III to the fifteenth year of
Rajaraja, A. D 1185 to A. D. 1231. The next
following, No. 83, refers itself to the reign of
this Virarakshasa, and of his forty-first year.
The word for forty is gone. If this forty-first
year could be taken to refer to Kulottunga
IIPs reign, the actual date would be A. D. 1219.
We cannot perhaps be quite sure about it,
though the date of the previous record is
explicitly in reference to the reign of Kulot-
tunga. Then we come to the most important
name of the Yadavarayas connected with this
temple, namely, Vira Narasinga Yadavaraya,
whose records begin with his twelfth year, and
take us down to his fifty-first year. We have

343

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

records of his in other places beginning with the
thirty-first year of Kulottunga III, and going
down to the fourteenth year of Rajaraja III.
That is the period included between A. D. 1209
and 1230. We have also a record of his dated
the twelfth year of Jatavarman Sundara Pandya,
corresponding to A. D. 1263, which would mean
that his active association with the temple would
cover the period A. D. 1209 to 1263, fifty-four or
fifty- five years. But the highest date in his
records happen to be the fifty-first year. While
we may be sure that he lived in the reigns
of Kulottunga III, and Rajaraja, we cannot be
certain about his dates. From No. 90 of this
volume in the Govindaraja shrine, the year of
reign is given as fifty-one, clearly as that of
Vira Narasinga, and the name of the year is
given as Bakshasa. This would correspond to
A. D. 1255. But the previous record No. 89
couples his fiftieth year with the year Vikrarna,
which is impossible. We have to take it that
the year is named wrong. We are not enabled
to go any further as the other Panchanga details
are not given in these records usually, the
records contenting themselves with referring to
the year of the reign of the ruler ; and the month
and date and further details which would admit
of calculation are not given. If his fifty-first
year corresponded to A. D. 1255, his reign must

341

THE YADAVARAYAS

have begun in A. D. 1204, and as the last date is
the twelfth year of Sundara Pandya, A. D. 1263,
or a period of fifty-nine years, a length which
may not be quite impossible, and would cover
the three reigns practically of Kulottunga,
Eajaraja and even Sundara Pandya. The first
record in Tirupati of this ruler refers itself to
the twelfth year when his queen Yadavaraya
Nachchiyar made over sixty-four cows and two
bulls for two perpetual lamps. This was placed
under the protection of the Sri Vaishnavas of the
temple. No. 85 is a record of the same queen,
but of the fifteenth year, and is a gift for
Govindaraja of one perpetual lamp for which she
gave thirty-two cows and one bull, No. 86 again
comes from the Govindaraja shrine and refers
to the thirtieth year of Vira Narasinga. It is
again a grant by the queen. She made a
sarvamanya of a village, part of which already
belonged to the God of Tiruvengadam, transform-
ing the whole into a sarvamanya (free of all
imposts) village. The part that was now given
was for the purpose of the Govindaraja festival
in Ani instituted by herself, and for the expenses
of the big car of square formation constructed
by herself for the God. She paid the sum due,
making allowance for depreciation and destruc-
tion of property. No. 87 from the hill shrine is
of the thirty-fourth year of the same ruler and

345

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

in a gift for a perpetual lamp by one Malaikkiniya
Nirifan or Tiruvengadanatha of Vlra Narayana-
chaturvedimangalam. No. 88 from the hill shrine
is of peculiar importance referring itself to the
fortieth year of the Yadavaraya. It begins
with the information that, in the year referred
to, a Desantari, that is, a foreign visitor by name
Tiruppullanidasa, undertook the rebuilding of the
temple. He seems to have sought permission of
the ruler for doing it, and got a communication
permitting of his doing so, but ordering at the
same time the copying out of all the inscriptions^
in the part of the temple to be renewed, on the
north wall of the shrine. This means it was
only the inner shrine that was going to be put
under repairs and the records found there were
to be copied in the outer wall of the temple.
Among the records so copied is a grant by the
Chola queen, the step-mother of Rajaraja, the
queen of Parantaka II, who died in " the golden
hall ", and a daughter of the Chera. This again
refers itself to the sixteenth year of Rajaraja
when she made over fifty-two kalanju of gold set
with six rubies, four diamonds and twenty-eight
pearls. No. 89 is a record of date fifty, but
the year is wrong, and refers to a gift of lamps
and garlands by the £rl Vaishnavas. No. 90 is of
the fifty-first year corresponding to A. D. 1255, as
was said above. This, and the previous record,

846

THE TADAVARAYA8

belong to the Grovindaraja shrine. It refers
to the making of a garden under the name
Yadavanarayana, and for the purpose of this
garden,, a sheet of running water was to be
impounded for growing the waterlily, and the
water was to be drawn from the big tank in
Tirupati. The document lays down that the
water should be drawn by natural flow from the
big tank as long as it was possible, and, when it
became impossible, water should be drawn by
water-lifts. The peculiar regulation is laid down
that this should not be marked off by stones
carrying the disc mark of Vishnu. It is not clear
why this unusual prohibition is made. There is
reference to another flower-garden below the tank,
and that was to receive the water supply as this
one. The two gardens were to be under the
management of those who were rendering service
to the God on the hill, and the maintenance of
this garden and the flower service were to be
perpetual. The next one, No. 91, does not give
any date, but mentions the Vira Narasimha
Yadavaraya, and refers to his weighing himself
against gold, and making use of the gold
to cover the temple Vimana (tower over the
sanctum) with gold ; his victory over his
enemies, and his bringing the whole world
under his authority, are both mentioned in
general terms. The weighing against gold was

847

BISTORT OF T1RUPAT1

on the occasion of the repairs referred to in
88 above. No. 92 from the Govindaraja shrine
contains a verse in praise of Yadavanachchiyar,
who is compared to the lotus-born Lakshmi.
The rest of the record is gone. Obviously
she made a gift to the temple. No. 93 of this
ruler is from the hill shrine, and refers to
the presentation of a perpetual lamp by a
Devapperumal belonging to Nellore, otherwise
called Vikramasimhapura. He made over the
usual number of cows and a bull. No. 94 is a
mutilated inscription and refers to a gift probably
by somebody belonging to Nellore. The record
speaks of a Nayanar Pillai Vira Narasinga.
That would mean the lord Prince Vira Narasinga.
No. 95 comes from the temple at Tirucchanur and
refers to a gift of land, but the record is too far
gone. No. 96 again comes from the same place
and seems to refer itself to the Pandiyataraiyar,
the father-in-law of Vira Narasinga, whose name
occurs in several other records, and refers to
the reclamation of land under a tank. No. 97
is from the same place referring to the same
person and seems to refer again to a gift of land.
No. 98 refers itself unusually to a date 1230, the
year Kllaka. This could only be the Saka year,
and for £aka 1230 Kilaka is correct. It refers
to an arrangement made by the £ri Vaishnavas
of Vlrasikhamukhaccheri of the Naraya^a-

ANANDANILAYA VIMANA

( To feet W< 349 )

THE YADAVARAYAS

ehaturvedimangalam for feeding the pilgrims
that came to worship at the temple on certain
special days of the year. The record is in the
Sndal shrine of Govindaraja, which is one of the
small outer shrines built at the inspiration of
Ramanuja within the temple. This brings us
to the end of the records of Vira Narasimha
Yadavaraya.

THE YADAVARAYA'S AUTHORITY WAS ONE OF

SUPERVISION. We see from these records that
this Yadava ruler Vira Narasingaraya showed
himself specially interested in the temple and
arranged for a number of services both by
himself and through his wife. These extended
to the performance of a Tulapurusha, which was
made use of for decorating the temple Vimana,
probably after it was repaired by the pilgrim
Tiruppullanidasa. Betweeen them, the husband
and the wife arranged for a certain number of
festivals and services both in the hill shrine and
in the Govindaraja temple at the foot of the hill,
not excluding even the temple at Tirucchanur.
There is a reference to this Yadavaraya queen
making a car for the Govindaraja. During the
period of his authority, as we noticed already, he
was not merely a local governor. He exercised
authority over a far larger area of the Chola
empire than the region of Tirupati, and probably
as such, made these gifts to the temple. The

349

DISTORT OF TIRUPATI

record of Sundara Pandya's twelfth year, which
would be of date A. D. 1263, refers to the issue
of an order by this Yadava Narasingadeva in
regard to the grant of a sarvamanya, although
the record does not say who it was that made
the gift ; but the order confirming this grant was
issued by this Yadavaraya, which would mean
that under the great Pandya he occupied perhaps
the same position of authority as under the
last two Cholas. With that we take leave of
Vira Narasinga. Great as his authority was, and
his benefactions magnificent, we still see that he
exercised no more authority than that of mere
supervision and control over the affairs of the
temple, the management having been really in
the hands of those exercising it as of old, namely,
the Sri Vaishnavas of the locality.

TIRUVENGADANATHA YADAVARAYA. We next

come to a Yadavaraya whose records give only
his years and do not refer themselves to any
other authority, and make it difficult to fix his
position. There are however some details in
his few records which would enable us to locate
him in point of time. The first record, No. 99;,
of Volume I of the Devastanam Inscriptions,
comes from the hill shrine, and refers to the
year opposite the eighth year of TiruvSngada-
natha Yadavaraya. The document records that
the village of Pongalur in the

360

THE TADAVAEATA8

was made a sarvamanya to God Tiruvengadam-
udaiyan. The order communicating this was
made by the Nayanar, apparently the Yadava-
raya, and was so conveyed by executing the
document from the year nine and month Adi
(July — August). The purpose of this sarvamftnya
was to carry out £ingayya Dandanayaka's
institution of a festival in the month of Adi
every year in the name of Rachayya Danda-
nayaka, arid a food offering also in his name.
The usual number of feudal and other dues
are given here, many of which are found in
other documents as well. These are generally
payments of gold, payments in grain for small
dues etc., and among the gifts called k&njkkai,
we find things like TiruttSyar Kawikkai and
Tiru-Maruhanar Kanikkai, which would mean
gifts in the name of the respected mother and
the respected sou-in-law. These seem more
or less feudal dues of some kind ; but who
the Tiruttayar and Tiru-Maruhanar are it is
not clear from this record. But what is of
importance to us, however, is who the Singana
Dandanayaka was, whose institution of the
festival is on record here. We shall consider
that in connection with the following records as
well, two of which have reference to these. The
next record No. 100 coming from the Govinda-
rSja shrine refers to the twelfth year of the same

351

HISTORY OF T1BUPATI

Yadavaraya, and refers to an order received
directing the gifting of certain land as sarvarnanya
for certain purposes, among others a Yadava-
narayanan sandi, although the part Yadava is
gone in the record. There are two interesting
points in this record. Like the other two that
we referred to in the previous one, here we come
upon Akkan Kapikkai, gift for the elder sister,
probably a payment similar to that of the others.
Then there is one other which is perhaps more
informing, a vari or tax going by the name
Vallaladeva, that is, Ballaladeva, which would
mean a tax levied and collected for the purpose
of Ballaladeva, which could only mean pay-
ment to Ballaladeva as a sort of a tribute or
something akin to it. No. 101 also from the
Govindaraja shrine is of the twelfth year and
seems to be a communication, exactly like the
previous one, and No. 102 comes from the temple
on the hill. It is a document of some importance
and refers to the stanattar of Tirumalai to whom a
representation was addressed in person by Srlman
Mahapradhani Immadi Rahutta Rayan Sin-
gayya Dannayakan. It was a request that a
festival in the month of Adi and a food service
called Sitagaragandan in the name of Singayya
Dannayaka should be instituted. For this the
son-in-law Tiruvenkatanatha Yadavaraya made
a sarvamSnya gift of Pongalur belonging to

352

THE YADAVARAYAS

and renamed Singannanallur free
of all demands. It was also ordered that stones
with the marks of the Vishnu disc should bfe
planted round the village to mark the boundary,
and from the revenue drawn therefrom the
expenses of these services be met from time to
time. In addition to these two the food service
for Vira Narasingapperumal and Tirumangai
Alvar at Tirupati must also be arranged for.
Further thirty-two or! Vaishnavas should be fed
in the Sitagaragandan Matham. After meeting
all these expenses the rest of the income should
be applied for the maintenance of a flower-
garden and a water-shed in the hill, in the name
of Singayya, as also any other charitable service
that may be required. These were placed under
the direction of the Sri Vaishnavas and the order
was directed to be put. in stone and copper as
a permanent record.

SINGAYYA D AND AN A YAK A, A HOYSALA OFFICER.

Here Singayya Dandanayaka is given the title
Immadi Rahutta and the official position of
Mahapradhani. The food service instituted in
his name is to be called Ritagaragandan, which
would mean that he had the title Sitagara-
ganda. Who was this person, a Dandanayaka,
a Mahapradhani with the titles Sitagara and
Immadi Rahutta, who figures in Tirupati in this
prominence ? The very name Sitagaraganda

353
45

HISTORY OF TIRVPATI

(one who kept the profligate under control)
indicates his Kanarese origin. Dandanayaka
is a well-known title popularised into Dannayak,
the title given to all dignitaries of rank, both
civil and military, in the Kannada country.
Mahapradhani is a well-known office under the
Hoysala rulers which occurs sometimes even
in Vijayanagar records, but is not found in
the records of the Tamil country, as in fact even
the title Dannayaka. Singayya Dannayaka
certainly was an officer of the Hoysala ruler
Vlra Ballala, whose reign covered the period
A. D. 1292 to 1342. This Ballala ruler began
his reign with his father's Brahman minister,
Perumala Dandanayaka, who was a very distin-
guished officer under Narasimha III, Hoysala.
His son was a Madhava Dandanayaka, who
held similar high office under Vlra BaHala
with dates early in the reign, A. D. 1310-11,
while the father's date falls in about A. D. 1292.
This Madhava Dandanayaka had two sons,
Ketayya Dandanayaka and Singayya Danda-
nayaka who similarly held office under Ballala III.
It was Madhava Dandanayaka, not his father,
who acquired the jaghlr of Padinalku Nadu
within the Mysore territory of the present day,
and had made what is now the village Terukka-
Qambi in the Ghindlepet Taluk of Mysore, his
capital. They were all of them Brahman officers

354

THE TADAVABAYA8

of rank under the Hoysalas and the title
Mahapradhani given to all of them is an
indication that they wielded the highest authority
in the state next the king. They became after-
wards associated with Dannayakankottai below
the Ghats, and came to be known as Da^ayakan-
kottai chiefs. That is, however, later. But as
yet they were officers under Vira Ballala III,
the last great Hoysala monarch.

THE RELATION BETWEEN SINGANA DANDANAYAKA
AND TIRUVENGADANATHA YADAVARAYA. Of these

officers, Perumala Dandanayaka does not concern
us, a very distinguished officer under Vira
Ballala III and his father though he was. His
dates were probably in the 13th century,
perhaps the last decade of it. His son Madhava
Dandanayaka has a date about A. D. 1310-11,
and succeeded to the position of his father
under Vira Ballala. He acquired the jaghlr of
Terukanambi. His sons were two Ketayya
Dandanayaka and Singana Dandanayaka, both
of which names appear in the Tirupati records.
From Mysore inscriptions we have dates for
both. Of these one record gives Ketayya
Dandanayaka's date as A. D. 1321—22, and
another Singa^ia's as A. D. 1338. Without being
too precise, we may say that these were both of
them officers who succeeded to the position of

365

MSTOJRT OF TIRUPATI

the father, and were trusted lieutenants of the
Hoysala monarch under Vlra Ballala during the
first forty years of the 14th century. Having
regard to the dates of the father and the grand-
father, we cannot well carry them backward to
anywhere near the middle of the 14th century.
We have noticed already that the last date we
know of for Vlra Narasingadeva is the 12th
year of Sundara Pa^ya which would mean
A. D. 1263—64. Taking that in combination with
the date found in No. 90 of the Tirupati inscrip-
tions, he would have had a period of authority
extending over 59 years. So a date A. D. 1263 —
64 should be rather close to the end of his reign
period. Whether Tiruvengadanatha Yadavaraya,
associated with Sing-ana Dandanayaka could be
an immediate successor of Vlra Narasinga is
matter for pronouncing upon on evidence of
which we have nothing quite definite. The
records in Tirupati referring to this Tiruvengada-
natha happen to be the 9th and 12th years of
his own reign, which do not lead us to anything
definite. But in No. 102 of the Tirupati inscrip-
tions coming from the hill shrine, he is referred
to as Marukan&r or son-in-law. Whose son-in-law
was he ? Sadhu Subramagya Sastri has taken
this to mean that his son-in-law was Singaija
Dai?4anayaka, notwithstanding the fact he was
a Brahman officer which he apparently does

366

THtS TADAVARAYAS

not know and the whole account he tries to
evolve in respect of these is confused and
contradictory. As the Tamil records read, the
term Maruhaaar cannot apply to Singana, and is
descriptive only of Tiruvengadanatha. If that
term should be held to describe the relationship
between him and Singana, it could only be that
he was Singana's son-in-law. But the collocation
of words as they occur in this record would
not justify that interpretation. Could it be
that Tiruvengadanatha Yadavaraya was the
son-in-law of Vira Narasinga ? At the worst
Maruhanar Tiruvengadanatha Yadavaraya could
only mean that Tiruvengadanatha was the
son-in-law of the ruling Yadavaraya just at the
time or before. The known date for Singana
Nayaka is A. D. 1338. That may be a very late
date, and it may not be unjustifiable to take the
beginning of his activity as a Hoysala officer to
the commencement of the century while yet the
father was wielding his authority as the principal
officer under the Hoysala monarch. Even so, it
is more than 30 years distant from the last known
date of Vira Narasinga. While therefore it
would be quite possible he was Vira Narasinga's
son-in-law, it would be difficult to assert it
without further evidence. Other possibilities are
that he was a son-in-law of an unknown officer
of Vira Narasinga, who still held authority

857

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

either in the region of Tirupati or round
about. This is unlikely as Vlra Narasinga was
still in authority. In any ease he certainly
could not have been the father-in-law of Singana
for one thing. That is so far as the personal
relations between the two are concerned. But the
really more important point for us is the political
relationship between the two. Mr. Subramanya
Sastri goes the length of suggesting that Singana
and his elder brother Ketayya were officers of the
Hoysalas who simultaneously took service also
under the Yadavarayas, which, from all that
we know of the matter, seems hopelessly
impossible. It cannot be argued from all that
we know that even a powerful man like Vlra
Narasinga was at any time any more than a
feudatory ruler who might have comported
himself as an independent ruler. Nowhere
does he openly declare himself as such.
What indeed was not done by a powerful ruler
like Vlra Narasinga, it would be difficult to
ascribe to a successor, either immediate or
remote, whatever his position, except on the
assumption that the higher authority had ceased
to exist. The Chola power undoubtedly had
gone out of existence, but these chieftains
Were openly under the Pa94ya hegemony. The
power of the Pan<Jyas had not quite gone
out of existence, and the last great Pa$<Jya,

958

THE YADAVARAYAS

Maravarman Kulasekhara Pandya and his
lieutenants exercised authority over both the
Pandyan and the Chola kingdoms, though his
authority may not have extended to the region
round Vengadam in any real sense of the term.
But then what had these Hoysala officers,
particularly Singana Nayaka to do with the
region ? We have now to go back upon a
short retrospect.

THE POLITICAL CONDITION OF SOUTH INDIA-THE

MUHAMMADAN INVASIONS. Just a few years after
the last year of Vira Narasinga Yadavaraya,
there was a change in the Pandya succession.
Jatavarman Sundara Pandya, the chief ruler
passed away, and his place was taken by a
Maravarman Kulasekhara, who ruled for more
than 40 years, his reign ending in A. D. 1309-10.
There were other Pandyas, who ruled as his
lieutenants, and it is just possible there was a
Jatavarman Sundara Pandya II between him
and the first Jatavarman Sundara. That is
not very material to our purpose. During the
period of Maravarman Kulasekhara Pandya, his
authority, as the supreme ruler of Tamil India,
was recognised both in the Pandya and Chola
kingdoms, and he is spoken of as very often
residing in the Chola capital of Mudikondasola-
puram, sometimes also Jayamkondasolapuram,
not far off, during his reign. At least one of

359

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

his sons, a Vira Pan^ya, was active in the
region of Kongu and the parts corresponding
farther eastward ; and, in his activities, he
is reported to have come into clash with the
Hoysalas, and the Hoysala army was sometimes
drawn towards the Kongu border against him.
This would mean that the frontiers of both the
powers had become doubtful and frontier wars
were not unusual. Vira Pandya had been
installed in authority in A. D. 1292 or 1293,
almost about the same time that Vira Ballala
succeeded to the Hoysala throne. The accession
of this Ballala brought about a union of the
Tamil and the Kannada parts of the Hoysala
kingdom which were under the rule of two
brothers immediately previous to him, Narasimha
ruling over the Mysore country and beyond,
and his brother Ramanatha ruling in the Tamil
portions of the Hoysala dominions. Ramanatha
claimed two capitals one in the Chola country,
the old Hoysala capital Vikrarnapura or
Kaimanflr, and the other farther to the north in
the Baramahal part of the Salem District, in a
place called Kundani or Hesar Kundani in those
days. Ramanatha died, and a son of his by
name Visvanatha after two or three years of
precarious existence passed out of view. There-
after Vira Ballala stands forth as the one Hoysala
ruler of the whole of the Hoysala empire. This

360

THE YADAVAEAYAS

naturally would begin to come into clash with
the successors of the Cholas, that is, the great
Pandya Maravarman Kulasekhara and his
lieutenants. This position was complicated by the
progress of Muhammadan conquests gradually
in the Dakhan which began with an invasion of
Devagiri by the generals of Allaud-din Khilji in
A. D. 1306. This was followed by other
campaigns which ended ultimately in the annexa-
tion of Devagiri to the empire of the Khiljis.
Next came the turn of the Kakatiya rulers of
Warangal, and that was overthrown after two
wars in A. D. 1309. Then it came to the turn of
South India. In the course of that South Indian
invasion under Malik Kafur, ordered by
Allaud-din, a raid on the Hoysalas was an
incident. The invading army encamped itself
near Sholapur in the jaghir of the Dalavay
Parasuram Dev, General of the Devagiri ruler,
and from there a raid was conducted up to the
Hoysala capital, probably a quick cavalry
march which succeeded wonderfully as the
Hoysala armies were occupied on the southern
frontier of Kongu against the activities of Vira
Pandya referred to above. The invasion was
so far successful that it plundered the capital
of the Hoysalas after having partly destroyed it,
and carried the raid much further to the coast
of the Arabian sea. It was afterwards that the

361
46

HISTORY OF TIRUPAT1

armies inarched on South India, and, after
having plundered the temples of the South,
including Srirangam, Chidambaram, Madura,
and even Ramesvaram, the Muhammadan
armies retired from the Tamil country. The
Muhammadan danger was not altogether over as
yet completely. After the raid on the Hoysala
capital however, Vlra Baljala was made to siie
for peace. A representation in his favour was
sent up to headquarters with the recommendation
of Malik Kafur, and the Hoysala prince was sent
out on this mission. It was graciously received
at headquarters, and the Hoysala was accepted
as nominal feudatory of the empire ; and the
prince was sent back with honours. According
to a Hoysala record, * there were rejoicings on
the return of the prince in A. D. 1313. So the
Hoysala managed to save himself from this
Muhammadan danger which threatened his very
existence, and, having managed it more or less
skilfully, he was reorganising his resources and
putting himself in a position of some strength as
against future contingencies.

THE REGION OP TIRUPATI UNDER HOYSALA

AUTHORITY. It is in the course of his activity in
the following years that he seems to have

* Epi. Car. VII, Ch. 68, SewelPe Hist. Ins. of South
India, p. 178.

362

THE YADAVARAYAS

stretched himself out into the region next
adjoining his territory gradually. That must
have brought him into the region of Tirupati.
The years following the return of Malik Kafur
in A. I). 1311 were years of trouble in the capital
till Mubarak placed himself on the throne in
A. D. 1316. During these five years, the
Muhammadan danger ceased to be real in South
India. Mubarak's reign proved to be brilliant
but very brief; and an invasion that came under
his orders to the South met with the success
that they looked for, and his general Khusru
returned to the capital to play his part in the
disturbances that followed and left the Dakhan
and South India pretty much to themselves.
In Mubarak's reign, the Maharashtra kingdom
of Devagiri actually became a part of the Mughal
empire, and Mubarak tried to strengthen himself
by planting Muhammadan garrisons at salient
points in the Mahratta country, which, to the
Hoysala, must have seemed a direct threat
against his northern frontier. He had to be
therefore alive and active as his northern frontier
was in grave and perpetual danger. In the
south things were propitious for his activity.
The Tamil country suffered from the invasion of
Malik Kafur, and an effort made by Ravivarman
Kulasekhara from the Travancore country, while
it just recovered the Tamil country from the

363

titSTORY OF T1RUPATI

grip of the Muhammadans, failed to provide
an organisation of any permanence. So the
field seemed open to the exploitation of any
enterprising neighbour, and the Hoysala was the
only one in the locality. It was apparently this
that made him cast his eyes upon Tiruvanna-
malai as a salient position in which he could
place himself with advantage to be in touch
with his own kingdom, and, if possible, prevent
any advance of the Muhammadans into the
Tamil country, should any further effort in that
direction be made. That would offer him a safe
place of retirement for himself if he should be
attacked by the Muhammadans again from the
north. The result of this activity on the part
of the Hoysala is what we see here in the region
of Tirupati in the presence of Singana Nayaka
or Singayya Dandanayaka. As we see it in the
records of Tirupati, Singayya Nayaka is not
there in the course of a hostile incursion, nor is
he there seeking the hospitality of the local ruler
for the time being. We rather see him issuing
orders, and being honoured by institutions of
festivals and the naming of towns in his name,
and of provisions being made for services in the
temple for his good. Singana Dandanayaka is
here as the superior authority whose orders the
local ruler for the time being felt called upon
to carry out. No. 99 of the Tirupati inscriptions

364

TSE YADAVARAfAS

is the institution of food services in Tirupati by
Singayya Dandanayaka in honour of another
officer Rachayya Dandanayaka, for which the
village of Pongalur was to be a sarvamanyam
gift to the temple, and the order was issued in a
letter which conveyed the information that they
might indite the grant both in stone and copper
as a permanent gift. In No. 102 on the contrary,
it is the Tirupati stanattar who say that they
instituted the festival in the month of Adi,
and a food service named Sitagaraganda both
in honour of Singayyadeva. This time the
sarvamanya village of Pongalur is named
Singayyanallur in honour of the officer. It does
very many other things all of them intended for
his honour. The food services were provided
for Vira Narasingapperumal and Tirumangai
Alvar in the temple. 32 Vaishnavas were to
be fed in the Matham or hall of Sitayaragaqda,
which means that that building, or public hall,
must have been constructed either by Singayya,
or in his honour by others. There was to be a
provision for a flower-garden and a shed for
supply of water, etc. Of course the whole of
these charities is placed as usual under the
protection of the £ri Vaishnavas of the locality.
Tiruvengadanatha Yadavaraya simply figures
here as the officer who did the needful to trans-
form the village completely into a sarvamanya

365

BISTORT Of TIRUPATI

village. He is obviously and undoubtedly in
the position of a subordinate officer carrying
out the orders of a superior in Singayya Danda-
nayaka. This position would be justified only if
this region had been brought more or less under
the authority and protection of the Hoysala
ruler for the time being, and the officers were
actually engaged first in the conquest of the
district, and then in the maintenance of the
authority of their master. This finds the fullest
justification in record No. 100, which makes
reference to a Vallaladevar vari, a tax or duty
levied in the name of Ballaladeva, which means a
cess or duty collected either for payment to
Ballaladeva, or for some other use in his name.
That could not be unless he were a ruler whose
authority they were bound to respect, and this
tax could be nothing more than a tribute paid to
that authority perhaps to let them carry on their
administration as hitherto though under the
Ballala suzerain authority.

This position of the Ballala could be
understood easily if we remembered that as soon
as the Tughlaks established themselves in
authority in Delhi in A. D. 1320, their attention
was called to the Dakhan, and there was a threat
of an invasion of the further south in A. D. 1323
which was saved by the outbreak of cholera in

366

THE TADAVARA7A8

the camp of Muhammad Tughlak. Muhammad
Tughlak did not forget it, and was likely to have
undertaken an invasion the next year but for the
fact that his attention was called to Delhi, where
he had to remain when his father was out in
suppressing a rebellion in Bengal. It was on his
victorious return that he was assasinated, and
Muhammad succeeded to the position. Soon
after his accession, Muhammad had to come to
the south against his cousin who set up in
rebellion in what is now the Nizam's Dominions
and in the Southern Mahratta country where he
held a government The success that was then
achieved would naturally bring him on further.
He sent out another invasion in A. D. 1827 which
damaged the Hoysala capital far more gravely
than before, and made the Bajlala move into
Tiruvannamalai, and make it more or less his
permanent residence as being a more strategically
central position being on the high road between
the north and the south, and along the line of
communication. It could not be that the Ballala
resolved to make Tiruvannamalai his place
of residence, or an alternative capital of
Tiruvannamalai town itself, unless he had some
hold over the surrounding country and could
exercise his authority over the region. The
Hoysala conquest, the slow and gradual conquest
by the Hoysalas, of these parts seem justified

367

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

by these documents which bring Singana Danda-
nayaka into the region of Tirupati.

SRIRANGANATHA YADAVARAYA, SUCCESSOR OP
TIRUVENGADAN ATHA AND CONTEMPORARY OF

SINGANA DANDANAYAKA. Without going any
further in this matter, we may take the name of
another Yadavaraya which figures in the next
following inscriptions of the first volume of
the Tirupati Devastanam inscriptions. No. 103
refers to the 3rd year of orl Ranganatha
Yadavaraya, which refers to the disposal of
certain pieces of land which were forest belong-
ing to Tiruvengadamudaiyan, and sold for
200 panams. Arrangements were made for the
irrigation of this land. The next inscription is
of the same year and of the same ruler, and
refers to this Singana Dandanayaka, whose
father's name is also given by his being called
Madappan Singana Nayaka with his usual titles.
The document seems to refer to his purchase of
a Matha and a flower-garden from certain Jlyars
(ascetic Vaishnavas) in management of certain
properties belonging to the temple, and making
them over to be maintained as the charitable
gift of the officer. Further the document seems to
refer to his having paid another 400 gold panams
with a view to feeding pilgrims on a certain
festival day in one of the Nandavanas (flower-
gardens) to which the Grod and the Goddess

368

THE TADAVARAYAS

should be taken on certain festivals. It also
refers to the taking of the God to the flower-
garden named after Vaiji £atag5pa, apparently
in reference to the Alvar for which another
provision of 100 panams had been made. All
these were placed under the protection of the
Sri Vaishnavas. The point calling for notice
here is that £ri Ranganatha Yadavaraya is
brought into connection with Singana Nayaka
pretty early in his reign, that is, in his 3rd year.
The next one No. 105 refers to the 9th year of
this Yadavaraya, but there is no other detail
worth our attention. No. 106 comes from the
hill shrine as do the previous two documents,
and refers to the 19th year and makes provision
for the taking out of the god on the fourth day
of some festival to the flower pavilion called
Chedirayan, and makes provision for the distri-
bution of food for which money was paid into
the treasury. No. 107 is from the same temple
and refers to the same Yadavaraya. But very
unfortunately his regnal year and the name
of the year, both of which were apparently set
down in the document, are lost, as otherwise
we would have had a precise date for him ; but,
the other Panchanga details given seem to
indicate that the year under reference must be
either A. D. 1330 or 1333, perhaps the latter
better. It is again a provision for some kind of

369
47

BISTORT OF TIBUPAT1

food service. The document is partially gone.
This document, even in this imperfect condition,
seems to indicate clearly that ori Ranganatha
Yadavaraya lived some time about A. D. 1330 or
1333 as also Singana Dandanayaka. From this
perhaps we can make the inference that Yadava
6r!ranga followed Yadava Tiruvengadanatha,
and both of them were contemporaries of Hoysala
Singana Dandanayaka. No. 108 comes from the
Govindaraja shrine and seems to be a record
of an agreement between the governing body
of the locality and a certain number of other
individuals, among whom are the Yadavaraya
Vilupparaiyan, Sola Vilupparaiyan, Trigartaraya
and another Vilupparaiyan, with the former
portion gone, together with the weavers and
devotees of Emberuman, which seems here to
refer to God : it might also be Ramanuja who
had the name. But the rest of the document is
gone. No. 109 conies from the hill shrine and
contains a couple of verses glorifying Sri
Ranganatha. It seems to refer to the enemies
he conquered, and the 16th year of his reign.
No. 110 coming from the same shrine refers to a
oasikula Chalukki Sangramarama, certainly a
Yadavaraya, but we can hardly be certain that
it was £rl Ranganatha Yadavaraya. The date
happens to be recorded here, apparently in the
$aka year; but the figures before the 100 are

370

THE YADAVARAYAS

gone, while 181 is left over. It may be
1100 or 1200, or another number of hundreds.
But the name of the year Vikari being given,
the year under reference seems to be Saka 1281,
which would mean A. D. 1359. It may not be
quite too late for Sri Ranganatha Yadavaraya,
but we cannot be quite certain whether it is he
that is referred to. Nos. Ill and 112 come
from the same shrine and simply put down the
name of the Sitagaragandan Matha of Singana
Dandanayaka.

OTHER RULERS WHO MAY BE YADAVARAYAS.

No. 113 is of some importance, although the
document is gone in vital parts. It refers
to £rl Nayanar Yadavaraya with obviously
Tribhuvanachakravarti going before. But the
actual name of the Yadavaraya is not given.
All that we can be certain about is it was still
a Yadavaraya ruler. The year and month
might have been given, but they are gone. All
that is left is the month and the date 29,
and then follows a reference to a Mahanayaka
Erramanchi Periya Pamiminayaka, that is the
elder (Periya) Pammanayaka of Erramanchi.
The titles given to him are obviously Vijaya-
nagar titles. He made the donation in cows and
bull for one perpetual lamp to Tiruvenga^am-
udaiyaa. It is stated however that he came

371

&ISTOR? OF T1RUPATI

there " for the Vasanta ". Probably he visited
the temple during the Vasanta (April — May)
festival. No. 114 is a similar inscription which
mentions a oilman Mahanayangacharya with
the other attributes of the previous inscriptions
and refers to a Bapu Nayakar Pemmanayakar
providing for a perpetual lamp. Like the
previous document No. 113, this also has the
same indication making it perhaps really
referable to the next following period. No. 115
merely mentions Yadavanrpa. Nos. 116 and 117
coming from the hill shrine are of some interest.
The first refers to the granting of what is called
Vaikuntha-Hasta to the god on the hill by a
certain Ahobalaraya which is in gratitude to
the God for giving the people the promise of
Heaven by the pose of the hand. The next is a
Tamil record to the same effect except that
here an Aubalaraya is described as the Yadava
ruler of Tanjai (Tanjore). We cannot say what
exactly his position was, and whether he was
really a successor of the other Yadavarayas,
and why his name gets associated with Tanjore
in particular.

OTHER MISCELLANEOUS RECORDS. With No. 118
we begin with a number of miscellaneous inscrip-
tions, all of them being records of gifts of
various kinds and institution of certain services

372

TSE YADAVARATAS

in the temple. Most of these inscriptions are
too much mutilated to make much from out
of them. But some of them that do contain
some little information do not admit of the
information being properly described for want
of full details. The first one of any importance
is No. 150 which is a small record and seems to
be complete, though the meaning is obscure. It
refers to a particular place called the pavilion
of Seranaivenran the pavilion of ' the person who
conquered the Chera, ' possibly in reference to
Ravivarman Kulasekhara's march up and he is
described as one of the lords whose function it
was to issue orders or send up communications.
Nos. 171 and 172 come from the hill shrine.
The first refers to Udaiyavar and speaks of a
certain charitable gift, and in the last line there
is the name Anandalvan ; and the next one
refers to a grandson of Anandalvan, apparently
referring to a service that he arranged for.
No. 173 similarly refers to the Acharyapurushas,
and, among them, what seems to be Anandalvan
Filial and the flower-garden that he made on the
hill. No. 175 refers similarly to the garden,
Ramanuja. It will be remembered that the
principal flower-garden laid out and cultivated
by Anandalvar was called by this name accord-
ing to the Venkaffichala ItihasamSla. No. 176
seems to define the boundary between Tirupati

373

and Avulali, elsewhere called Avilali. No. 177
refers to a Kamavilli of Puvainagar. He is said
to have constructed a tank in Tirupati as a
charitable gift, as one among the 32 charities
that his mother had taken occasion to teach
him about. That brings us to the end of the
miscellaneous inscriptions, and the records
following refer themselves to Vijayanagara
rule.

374

CHAPTER XV.

TONDAMAN CHAKRAVARTI-THE HUMAN
FOUNDER OP TIRUPATI.

With Vijayanagara we may regard ourselves
as entering, so far as the history of Tirupati is
concerned, upon the modern period. Up to that
the history of Tirupati would be more or less of
the nature of imperfect documents upon which
we have had to depend for a regular history of
the period, and what we have been able to
gather would more or less be of a character
almost in keeping with this. We may roughly
take the middle of the 14th century as the
parting line between the one and the other, and,
having come so far collecting and considering
all the disjecta membra of information so far
made available it would perhaps be well to
gather together in summary what of the real
history of the holy shrine at Tirupati we have
been able to gain so far. While the history of
the shrine may be said to go back to the
commencement of the Christian era, we have no
definite information as to who the first human
founder of the temple was. It is what is called a
shrine self-create (svayambhu-sthala), but, as far
as the historical position is concerned, Ton<Jaman

375

HISTORY OF TIRUPATT

Chakravarti, as he is called in later literature,
must be regarded as the human founder. He
was by all accounts mentioned as a ruler of the
locality having his capital near the hill which
could be reached from there even by an under*
ground passage. We must take it, therefore,
that he ruled from some place like Narayana-
vanam and a few of the other places round
about as constituting townships of importance in
the locality in later history.

THE VAISHNAVA CHARACTER OF THE SHRINE AT

TIRUPATI. Another feature of the tradition
regarding him is that he was the son of a Chola
ruler by a Naga princess which we may take to
mean a princess, daughter of the local ruler.
The Tondaman's arrangements for the conduct
of worship in the temple were not anything of
his own foundation, as there were already two
devotees, a Brahman and a Sudra who were on
their own account engaged in the service, the
Vaikhanasa Brahman for the ritual worship, and
the &fidra engaged in the external service
necessary to conduct worship, such as the
supply of flowers and other things which would
be needed for the conduct of the daily worship
even according to the Vaikhanasa rites. The
period, according to the Pauraijdc sources which
are the only source for this period of history,

376

THE FOUNDER OF TtRUPATI

is said to be somewhere between the beginning

of the Vikrama era and the oaka era, that is, in

the first century B. C. or A. D. That is as far as

the traditional origin of it goes. We find the

shrine in Tirupati figuring in the earliest secular

sources of information we have for South India,

and is already a shrine with arrangements for

not merely conducting the daily worship but

even some of the more important annual festivals.

The earliest writer mentioning this that we know

of is the poet Mamulanar, one of the great

celebrities of the Sangam literature. He says

specifically that Tirupati was famed for its annual

festivals. We quoted references to the worship

of Vishnu among the early deities from a poem

of Nakkirar, and a reference to the existence of

one of the shrines in Kanchi in the days of

Tondaman Ilam Tiraiyan from the Perumban-

arruppadai. It need not therefore be regarded

as anything improbable that a shrine should have

existed in Tirupati. With these poets and poems

we are almost introduced to the first Alvars or

the Vaishnava saints. They are three of them

who had the reputation, in the estimation of

even the later saints, as writers of classical

Tamil (&en-Tami£) Their three centa are

regarded by Vaishijavas as in a way specially

dedicated to the Vishnu shrine in Tirupati. We

have collected above all the relevant details,

877
48

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

and, on a consideration of these details, we have
no hesitation in affirming that the shrine was
regarded as a Vishnu shrine, and the image
therein as an ipaage of Vishnu, notwithstanding
features which later on came to be regarded as
representing other deities. This peculiarity of
features is fully explained not only in the works
of these early Alvars but even in some of the
later ones. The explanations offered ought to
satisfy every one that is a believer in Vaish^avaic
Hinduism as such ; to the outsider who examines
it altogether from an extra devotional point of
view, these peculiar features would seem strange
indeed, as being, more or less, those not ordinari-
ly met with in one's own experience. Assuming
for the moment that the image had a human
origin and the temple a ihuman foundation, the
image representing the deity would be the
translation in material form of the ideas that the
founder wished should be incorporated in the
image representing the deity. Having regard to
the circumstances of the time and of the
prevailing religious conditions, we can state it
with confidence that the period was one in
which people were making an effort to provide
for worship for the masses of people, possibly
with a view to wean them from attachment to,
and the attractions of, other contemporary
religious such as Jainism and Buddhism. It was

378

THE FOUNDER OF TIKUPATI

therefore a period not so much of distinction,
much less of antagonism, between Vaishnavism
and Saivism ; but it was much rather of Hinduism,
a kind of transformed Brahmanism as against
the two heretical religions from the point of view
of the Hindu. Having regard to this, they would
rather lay the emphasis upon the similarities
between Vishnu and Siva, and the underlying
unity, rather than bring into prominence the
distinction in character between the two. Hence
certain features, which may well form the basis
for contention as to the real character of the
image, would seem unavoidable. But even so,
it is remarkable that, from the earliest times, the
shrine was regarded as .a Vishnu shrine and the
image that of Vishnu. Besides the three Slvars,
and a fourth, who have to be regarded as coming
close after the age of Mamulanar and Nakkirar,
and Rudran Kannan all Sangam celebrities, we
find Nammalvar giving the same character, as
also the other Sjlvars till we come to 5jvar
Tirumangai in the middle of the 8th century.
That is not all. Their contemporaries the £aiva
Adiyars and the Nayanmars who wrote as largely
on their devotion to Siva and of the places
specially dedicated to the worship of Siva, give
no indication whatever of their having felt at any
time that the hill shrine at Tirupati was ever a
Saiva shrine. Kalahasti not far off, one of the

379

BtSTOBT Of TIRUPATI

primary Saiva holy places, has been visited by
all these prominent saints, and they celebrate it
in their poems. Since they went and visited
Kalahasti and celebrated the shrine there, we
cannot say that they did not know of Tirupati,
or hear of it. Nevertheless we do not find them
mentioning Tirupati as among their holy places,
not to say that they have not celebrated it as a
Siva shrine. We have already noted that there
are a few secular references from the Hindu
point of view, and they leave it in no doubt and
state it, as plainly as language would admit, that
Tirupati was a Vishnu shrine. The author of
the Silappadhikaram, who was not a Brahman
Hindu, states it in the clearest terms that the
hill shrine at Tirupati was a Vishnu shrine. So
does the author of the Bharata Veqba at the end
of this period, that is, at the commencement of
the 9th century ; this couples Tirupati and
Kanchi as places specially dedicated to Vishnu.
The earliest inscription which refers to this
temple belongs to a generation or two previous
to the author of the Bharata VeybS, and
that refers to Tirupati as a Vishnu shrine.
Hence we have to regard it that, whatever the
character of the image or the peculiar features
that it exhibits, the place passed in the estima-
tion of the people as a Vaishgava holy place,
and the temple a Vaishnava shrine, during the
first eight centuries of its existence.

880

THE AOBARYAS AND TIRUPAT1
TIRUPATI IN THE AGE OP THE ACHABYAS i Passing

down we come to the age of the Acharyas who
followed the Alvars and continued their teaching,
and the accounts of the Guruparamparas refer to
visits to Tirupati by the first JLcharya Nadamuni.
The next important person among this group,
Nadamuni's grandson Yamunacharya is said not
merely to have paid a visit some time in his life
but even to have felt, perhaps as a result of the
visit, that the arrangements for the flower-service
to the Grod was not satisfactory, and wanted that
some stout-hearted person should make up his
mind to go and settle down in Tirupati and devote
himself to that service. It is as a result of this
that one of his grandsons Tirumalai Nambi went
and settled down in Tirupati with his father
and two young unmarried sisters, from one of
whom was to be born later on Ramanuja, the
Vaishnava teacher. Tirumalai Nambi became a
permanent inhabitant of the hill, and some of
those that live in Tirupati to-day claim descent
directly from him. The fact is therefore con-
firmed by Ramanuja having had to go to this
uncle of his at Tirupati to learn the esoteric
teaching of the Ramayana as he had received it
from his own grandfather Yamunacharya. So
although tradition is our only authority for some
of these specific facts, we can still hold that
there is a continuous tradition that the shrine

981

HISTORY OF TIRUPAT1

was one dedicated to Vishnu, that the Vaishiiavas
regarded it as a holy place of pilgrimage to
which they went on pilgrimage, and certain of
the Vaishnavas came to regard it as their special
charge and even made efficient arrangements as
far as they could, for the care of the shrine in a
locality not as yet well-inhabited, perhaps not
quite comfortably habitable as yet. That was
the state of affairs regarding the temple till we
come to the days of Ramanuja.

THE ACHARYA RAMANUJA AND THE SHRINE

AT TIRUPATI. It was during the life-time of
Ramanuja that a controversy arose which has
given rise to different notions regarding the
character of the shrine itself. Ramanuja's was
about the age, taking into it a generation or
two before him, when the sects were forming
distinctly, and even tried more or less to separate
themselves into distinct groups in Hindu society.
One of the incidents in the course of this
development is the natural assertion and counter-
assertion of the superiority of £iva and Vishnu,
in fact the supreme character of the one or other
of these. This kind of a contention got set up
with impunity, as, at the time the rival creeds of
Jainism and Buddhism had not perhaps as great
a vogue as in the centuries preceding. Certain
other historical circumstances also encouraged a
movement like this. Ramanuja's life was cast in

382

RAMANUJA AND TIRUPATI

the period when the Cholas were the chief power
in the Tamil country. The Chola monarchs
were most of them iSaivas personally, and some
of them very ardent ones. Notwithstanding
their personal devotion to the oaiva faith, as
rulers they took care not to become partisan in
public matters, and, as far as it came their
way, they supported Vaishnava shrines and the
Vaishnavas as well. In an age of controversy
however and contention between the sects, these
rulers were bound to be drawn into the struggle,
and they might sometimes have let themselves
go in support of those of their own conviction to
some extent. But the really important feature
is the existence of these controversies. We have
a tradition that the ruler of Madura invited
Periyalvar to take part in a controversy raised
by a Saiva divine, and so was Yamunacharya,
the great-grandfather of Ramanuja. The advent
of the Cholas to power gave much support to
£aivism, as in fact it is stated in the records of
the Cholas that Aditya, the second ruler of the
new dynasty, built as may as 300 shrines to
Siva on the banks of the Kaveri. Whether the
number was actually 300 or not, he was respon-
sible for a large number of oaiva shrines. This
would mean undoubtedly a rise in the following,
and consequently in the influence of Saivism.
The Vaishnavas were apparently organising

HISTORY OF TIRUPAT1

themselves also as a sect ; but they do not
appear to have had a similar influential
support to begin with. But still they collected
together round important teachers and were
gaming in influence also. Matters came to a
head at a time when Ramanuja had to work his
way gradually up to a position of infhience as
the leading teacher among the Vaishnavas, and
the legitimate occupant of the apostolic seat
of his great-grandfather Yamunacharya at
£rirangam. Although the ruler contemporary
at the time was the enlightened ChSla
Kulottunga I, these controversies and controver-
sialists could not be silenced, and it is one
of these individual controversies that was
responsible for Ramanuja's exile from Srirangam,
as was stated already. The period therefore of
Ramanuja's life was one of rising sectarianism
and sectarian controversies in which even
enlightened rulers were being, willingly or
unwillingly, drawn. It was about this time
while Ramanuja was occupying his position as
teacher of the Vaishnavas at Srirangam, in
considerable influence among his followers, that
the question of the character of the Tirupati
shrine arose.

ACHARYA RAMANUJA AND TIRUPATI. One of the

cardinal facts of Ramanuja's life, although there
is no undoubted evidence of history either from

384

RAMANUJA AND T1RUPATI

inscriptions or other similar sources, is his having
had to go into exile from Srirangam as a result
of this sectarian animosity. We have discussed
the matter in full in the earlier part of the work,
and we need not go into details here.
Enlightened ruler that Kulottunga was, his part
in the controversy was that of a oaiva ruler of
the locality, and his inviting prominent people to
take part in a controversy, not of his own
creation. It was purely a question of a challenge
by a £aiva teacher of eminence to disprove his
thesis of the supremacy of Siva in Hinduism ; of
course on the face of it it was a controversial
question. Rulers seem to have felt they were
bound to let the disputants come into cotirt
and prove their case to the satisfaction of the
assembled court. Kulottunga seems to have had
nothing further than this in his mind in inviting
Ramanuja to dispute the Saiva controversialists.
What took place is a result not directly of
fanaticism in religion, but of the secular offence
that he took at what he might well have
considered an irrelevantly impertinent remark
by Kftrattalvan. So Ramanuja had to be in
exile from his country, and could return to
Srirangam only after the death of Kulottunga I.
The incident merely indicated the sectarian
stir at the time, during the active period of
Kulottunga's life, and even those of his

986
49

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

successors. From such evidence as is available
in the inscriptions round Tirupati we could infer
the favour that had been shown to Saivism by
those Saiva officers of the Cholas who made
numbers of donations to the Siva temple at
Tirucchanur, while we might almost say there
were hardly more than a few donations made
£y Vaishnava officers or others about the
?ame period to the Vaishnava temples in the
neighbourhood, both on the hill and down
below. Even so a record of Kulottunga in
Tirupati itself refers to the god as "Tiruvayppa<Ji
Tirumalai Slvar " meaning Krishna, just as the
Mudal Alvars do. It would therefore raise the
presumption that, at the time, the £aiva tide
was running strong round the region as a cousin
of Bamanuja himself had become a devotee of
oiva and was living in Kalahasti, whom the
uncle Tirumalai Nambi could reclaim only after
persistent effort. That seems to have been a
period unfortunately when, owing perhaps to
some calamity or other which might have
befallen the few families of Vaishnavas in
Tirupati engaged in the temple service, the
temple service had fallen into neglect, and the
shrine itself, to some considerable extent, not
looked after carefully. It seems possible that
this untoward condition wad taken advantage
of and a claim set up, not necessarily by all the

386

RAMANUJA IN TIRVPAT1
Saivas. btit by a small but influential body of

A A»

Saivas, that the temple was a Siva temple. The
local ruler finding it difficult to decide, on his
own responsibility, thought it much the best
way to give the very best chance of a final
settlement, to invite Ramanuja as the best
exponent of Vaishnavism to prove the case of
the Vaishnavas if they had a case. It would
have been nothing more than a disputation, as
in a number of other instances on record, and
have 110 relation to the importance of the issue
but for the eminent character of one individual
involved. It is given therefore a very exaggerated
importance in the Vaishnava accounts of the
locality, and even a miraculoiis intervention of
God himself has been invoked. It will be clear
to those who have read the previous pages of
this work that the character of the image and
some of the features of worship lend themselves
to an interpretation different from that actually
given, and on the side of the Saivas therefore
there was a plausible case. Ramanuja found no
difficulty in proving it to the satisfaction of the
impartial assembly which the Yadavaraya's
court provided, and convincing the Yadavaraya
himself and the assembly that the shrine was
Vaishnava in character. It would be well to
remember in this connection that, in those days,
Vaishnava and Smartha or even Saiva did apt

387

BISTORT OF TtRTJPAft

stand so much apart from each other in social
life as now, and hence it would be nothing
strange that this matter should have arisen, and
in the form in which it actually did. Having
given the award in favour of the Vaishnavas, it
would in the ordinary course be only in the fitness
of things that Ramanuja should be asked to pay
some little attention and put matters on a proper
footing in respect of the Tirupati temple.
Ramanuja did indeed stay in Tirupati, and made
the organisation for worship in very many
particulars as it is now. That organisation falls
naturally in two clear parts, the first one a mere
revival of the ritualistic practices of the worship,
etc., as they obtained till then ; and the second
the institution of a number of new services which
had not been in- existence before. For the
former part of it Ramanuja found authority
quite easily in the Pur anas, the Prabandha
works, and other material to which he has had
access, such as some of the Agamas which may
not exist now. The new arrangements took on
the character of putting the secular management
of the temple on a proper footing, and putting
Tirumalai Nambi while he was alive, and
Anandalvar after him, as guardian advisers in
regard to the temple, making proper provision
for the temple service by the creation of a certain
number of gardens, providing a certain number

388

RAMAN&JA'S WORK IN flRUPATt

of additions to the shrine and installing even
some other Vishnu images in the temple. Further
the temple management was put on a footing
of permanent disinterestedness by the creation
of a couple of ^Mafias with Sanyasins, or
bachelors at their head, and giving them the
management. Those interested in the matter
will find the details given in the Sri Venkatachala
Itih&amala, which, though compiled later,
seems more or less to reflect the actual existing
institutions in the temple since then. That
Ramanuja was there as well as Anandalvar, and
that the principal flower gardens made by
Anandalvar was given the name Ramanuja,
appear in evidence in inscriptions jiist a few gene-
rations, two or three, after Ramanuja in inscrip-
tional records. Full provision was made for the
recitation of the Prabandhas, and the celebration
even of an Adhyayana Utsava as in Srirangam.
Some of the details of it such as the Tiruppavai
Utsava on the hill shrine, and the shine to Groda
in the Govindaraja shrine appear in inscriptional
records of the Yadavarayas and others. These
would be enough to show that Ramanuja did
play an active part in the organisation of
worship in the temple, not exactly in the
conversion or transformation of a oiva temple
into a Vishnu temple. We have shown enough
evidence of a continuous, and almost irrefutable,

889

HISTORY OF T1RUPAT1

character to prove that the temple was intended
to be a Vishnu temple, and had been so regarded
throughout up to this particular period. Secular
arguments could now be set up against this
position, which, in a case like this, are quite out
of place. An image of Vishnu, like the image
of any other God, is set up to answer to a
particular aspect of the deity as conceived by the
individual worshipper or the worshipping commu-
nity, and not on any absolute pattern for Vishnu,
and after all in a matter of this character tradi-
tional evidence is likely to be less at fault than the
so-called evidence of reason. Once order had
been introduced and an organisation for worship
was acknowledged, things went on well with the
temple, and we find, in the period immediately
following that of Ramanuja, donations of various
kinds were made and the arrangements regulating
worship, etc., on the lines said to have been laid
down by Ramanuja himself, continued in force.

THE TEMPLE UNDER THE MANAGEMENT OP THE

VAISHNAVA COMMUNITY: It would have been
noticed from the summary of the inscriptions
given that the management of the temple had
been throughout in the hands of those who were
devoted worshippers at the temple, and such
arrangements as were made were made by those
whose religious interests lay that way. Siich
secular provisions as they did make for various

390

THE VAISHNAVA COMMUNITY AND TIBUPATI

service in the temple were placed under the pro-
tection of the Vaishnava community residing in
the locality, but were subject to the control of the
popular assemblies which looked after the general
administration and ultimately, in case of need,
the rulers, kings or governors, according to the
period of time to which we make reference.
State intervention there was and always when
actually needed, and the state did interfere to set
matters right and went no further. The state
authority withdrew to let the management go
on as before, so that, at any rate so far as this
temple is concerned — it is in fact true of every
other temple that exists — the management was
in the hands of the community interested, and
the government interested itself in seeing to it
that things went on peacefully and satisfactorily
from the point of view of the temple management
and did not otherwise interfere. For the period
of almost a couple of centuries following the
active period of Ramanuja's life, we have only
inscriptional records, and the tale that they tell
does not differ in the least from this position
that we have depicted. That period of a couple
of centuries was not uniformly peaceful. The
authorities changed, and even the political
possession of the locality changed. But the
organisation for the management of the temple
and the arrangements for the worship went

891

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

on unaffected by any of these changes. Half a
century of confusion consequent upon the incur-
sions of the Muhammadans in A. D. 1310 did
introduce a certain amount of confusion ; but
then it did not reach through the society to affect
this organisation in particular in spite of the fact
that the temples particularly were exposed to
the plundering raids of the invaders. On the
whole the shrine at Tirupati, and the shrines
dependent thereon, seem to have suffered little
scathe, while the temples at Srirangam, Chidam-
baram, Madura and Ramesvaram suffered vital
injuries. This was due perhaps to the shrines
round Tirupati being in a comparatively inacces-
sible locality, and the invaders perhaps took roads
which did not come too near these. When there-
fore Vijayanagar gets established and the autho-
rity of Vijayanagar begins to prevail over these
parts, we find the Tirupati shrine well-organised
and going on more or less on the set lines of
worship and service. This closes the formative
period, more or less, of the history of Tirupati
from the point of view of the historian, and
with the advent of Vijayanagar we are on
what might almost be regarded as the modern
period of the history of the hill-shrine.

CHAPTER XVI.

TIRUPATI UNDER VIJAYANAGAR.
REGION ROUND TIRUPATI UNDER HOYSALA VIRA

BALLALA in. Before proceeding to take up the
history of the Tirupati temple, it would be useful
to have an idea of the circumstances under
which Vijayanagar came into existence, and the
character of the change in administration that
the advent of this new empire brought about.
It would therefore be well to go back upon a
slight retrospect, and gather together the details
of information that we get regarding the changes
that took place in the period ending with
the formation of the empire of Vijayanagar.
Among the inscriptions collected by the
Devastanam authorities, the earliest are those
connected with the name of Saluva Mangu and
Kumara Kampana Udaiyar, the conqueror of
Madura ; and the dates of the earliest records
happen to be about the year A. D. 1359. There
is possibly an earlier record in No. 178 of
Volume I which just contains the name of
Bukkaraya ; but such of the titles as precede it
in this imperfect record make it doubtful whether
it actually refers to Bukka I. It would, however,

393
50

BISTORT OF TIRUPATI

hardly matter, as the mention of Kumara
Kampana and Saluva Mangu would be about as
good as mentioning Bukka I himself, unless we
could be certain of the date of this inscription
being earlier than the date given above. In the
record, as it is available, we have no means of
ascertaining that. We may take it therefore
that the first Vijayanagar records refer to a
period some time about A. D. 1359. By this
date we could regard the empire of Vijayanagar
as almost well-established, the only enemy that
they had to look forward to in the north being
the newly established Bahmani kingdom under
its second ruler Muhammad Shah, the imperial
power at Delhi having almost definitely given up
ideas of recovering the southern possessions of
the Tughlak empire. We saw already that the
last dated record previous to this among the
inscriptions of Tirupati were those referring to a
Singana Dandanayaka of date A. D. 1838. We
have besides a number of records pertaining to
this officer showing him more or less closely
associated with the region round Tirupati, and
being regarded by the local ruler as an officer
deserving of the respect due to an official
superior. We have also noticed that this
Singana Nayaka was no other than an officer of
the last Hoysala ruler, Vira Ballala III, under
whom served not only Singana Nayaka but even

394

UNDER VlJAYAltAGAtl

his elder brother, his father and even grand-
father. Singana Nayaka's position in Tirupati
therefore gives the clearest indication that the
region round Tirupati had passed under the
authority of this last Hoysala, Vira Ballala III
A. D. 1292 to A. D. 1342. It was in his reign
that the first invasion of the Dakhan by the
Muhammadans under Alau-d-din took place, and
the gradual Muhammadan expansion subse-
quently. The extension of the authority of Vira
Ballala into the region of Tirupati is directly
connected with these Muhammadan invasions,
andt goes back perhaps a couple of generations
earlier when the Hoysalas were drawn towards
the South in support of the last rulers of the
Chola dynasty in their struggle to maintain
their position. We shall have to make a short
review of this period.

THE HOYSALA EXPANSION IN THE SOUTH. It was

already stated that the first Hoysala intervention
was called for in the reign of Rajaraja III, pretty
early in his reign, and that Hoysala Narasimha II
advanced towards the south to assist him, on the
one side against the aggressions of the Pandyas,
and on the other the rebellions of powerful chief-
tains like governors in Tondamandalam, and even
Kopperunjinga in South Arcot. The declining
Chola power under their ruler Rajaraja III,
A. D. 1316 to A. D. 1352—53, was harassed

395

&1STORY OF TIRUPAT1

within the empire by the rebellions of the Pallava
chieftain Kopperunjinga and possibly others in
the neighbourhood on the one side, and the
rising power of the Pandyas in the south whose
aggressions were stimulated by a desire for
vengeance for all that they had suffered from
the Cholas, particularly their last great ruler
Kulottunga III. Caught between these two great
fires of rebellion in the northern part of the
empire, and of the Pandya aggressions from the
south, the Chola power could have sustained
itself if it had had at the head of it a powerful
and competent monarch who could hold his own
against these enemies as several of the great
Cholas have had to do before Rajaraja III. But
Rajaraja III seems to have been a particularly
feeble man for the critical position. He seems
also to have been troubled by a rival claimant to
the throne even at the outset of his reign. In
these circumstances, the Chola power could be
kept up only if there was a powerful ruler from
outside who was interested enough to maintain
the integrity of the Chola empire, or even the
prestige of the Choja empire for the time being.
Family relationship and political consideration
alike perhaps prompted the Hoysala rulers across
the hills to come to the assistance of Rajaraja at
a time when he was hard pressed by his rebellious
feudatory Kopperunjinga. In the actual condition

396

PIRUPATI UNDER VIJAYANAQAtt

of the Chola empire, it was not likely that one
intervention, and the setting up of the Chola in
power, would put matters on anything like a
footing of peace. It was therefore a question
whether something more than this occasional
interference was not called for. Events showed
that more was required to keep the Cholas in
position. Narasimha II and his son Somesvara
who were both of them intimately related with
the Cholas and the Pandyas, found it necessary
to establish themselves in an alternative capital
in the south with a view to being ready at hand
for the assistance of the Cholas. It was there-
fore that the Hoysala Somesvara fortified the
village Kannanur, four miles away from the
north bank of the Coleroon opposite Srirangam,
and installed himself there in the newly fortified
Vikramapura as his capital, which probably
proved of some assistance to the Chola, perhaps
so far as his feudatories were concerned ; but it
only aggravated the hatred of the Pandyas and
made them the more implacable as enemies.
Somesvara had to exert himself strenuously to
keep the Pandyas from out of the Choja territory,
and, in this effort, he strengthened the Hoysala
position and extended his influence so much
that some of the records of Narasimha 111 claim
his having set up a pillar of victory in
Bamesvaram and making an encircling movement

397

OF TIRUPATt

against the Pandyan territory through the
Pudukkottai State. When the great Jatavarman
Sundara Pandya ascended the Paij^ya throne, he
carried on a great and successful campaign north-
wards beating the enemies in the Chola country,
among whom the name of Somesvara himself
figures prominently as well as that of Kopperun-
jinga and others. He anointed himself as a
victorious conqueror in Kanchi, and even Nellore
farther north, before he celebrated his achieve-
ment in crowning himself with the greatest glory
both in Srirangam and in Chidambaram. This
certainly was a crushing blow to the Hoysala posi-
tion in South India ; but it also gave some little
relief to the Chola by the success that he achieved
against the rebellious Chola feudatories further
north. But all the same, it did not avail the Cholas
to regain their lost prestige, much less their
territory* We see, however, although it is not
clearly stated anywhere in any of the Chola or
Pandya records, that the invasion of Sundara
Pai]4ya I had the effect of putting an end to the
Chola empire, as his Pandya successors are
found ruling in the Chola country soon after
him. So far as the Hoysalas were concerned,
they had suffered early from Sundara Pandya
and, for the time being, had perhaps been
temporarily dispossessed of their territory in the
Tatiail country. But they were able soon to

TIRUPATI UNDER VIJATANAOAE

regain a part of it, as we find two sons of
Somesvara succeeding him simultaneously, one,
Narasimha III the elder of the sons ruling his
ancestral dominions from Halabid and Belfir.
We find another Hoysala ruler simultaneously,
styled Vira Ramanatha in his inscriptions, ruling
over the Tamil territories of the Hoysalas
claiming still Vikramapura as his capital and
having another Kundani, in the Baramahal parts
of the Salem District. Ramanatha's rule seems
to have lasted about a quarter of a century,
and when he died, a son of his, succeeded to
his territory, and, after two or three years of
rule, passed out of view. In consequence the
empire of the Hoysalas was again united under
Narasimha III.

EXTENSION OP HOYSALA AUTHORITY INTO THE
REGION OP TIRUPATI UNDER VIRA BALL ALA III:

Narasimha's reign was perhaps more occupied
with keeping his northern frontier from
encroachment by the Yadavas of Devagiri and
in bringing as much as possible of the southern
part of the empire into his dominions. His
period of rule, however, corresponded to that of
the great Pandya Maravarman Kulasekhara,
the last great Pandya of Madura before the
Muhammadan invasions, and the two powers
seem to have been more or less well matched
to indulge too readily in the game of war.

399

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

Maravarman Kulasekhara's activities find echo
in the Tanjore District, and the fact that this
great Pandya made Jayankondachojapuram and
Gangaikondacholapuram his capitals would
indicate that he had to be active on the northern
frontier as against aggressions by the Hoysala,
who must have regained his footing in
Vikramapura. This interpolation by the Hoysala
between the southern and northern parts of the
Chola empire seems really to have been res-
ponsible for the falling away of the northern
part of the Chola empire from its allegiance,
and becoming more or less independent of the
empire of the Cholas and their successors. If,
in the course of these years, this part fell away
from the Chola empire, the maintenance of its
independence woud have been perhaps rather
precarious unless it be under the wings of a
greater power than themselves. During a con-
siderable part of this period we find the
Yadavarayas comporting themselves more or less
independently after the break up of the Chola
empire, but not perhaps without being exposed
to the incursions and the influence of a new
power ; and that power, in the circumstances,
must have been that of the Hoysalas. We have
already noticed, in our account of the recorded
inscriptions in Tirupati and its vicinity, that two
Hoysala generals figure rather prominently with

400

TIKUPATI UNDER VIJAYANAGAP

dates well on in the reign of the Hoysala
Vfra Ballala HI, the son and successor of
Narasimha HI. It fell to this Vira Baljala to
regain the southern part of the empire for the
Hoysalas largely. He had therefore to be very
active in this region warring pretty often against
the Pandyas under Maravarman Kulasekhara.
It is nothing strange therefore that we find his
authority in a way acknowledged by the later
Yadavarayas in the region of Tirupati. This
becomes the more clear when the family of these
officers for three generations held the chief
authority under the Hoysalas as their principal
officers, exercising authority 110 doubt over the
whole of the empire, but even holding jftgklrs of
territory in the southern part of Mysore, which
ultimately became an independent division of
territory when the Hoysala power in its turn
declined. Perumala Dandanayaka was the prime
minister of Narasimha III in the later years of his
reign, and he continued in that great office under
his son and successor at the outset of his reign.
He was succeeded in that great office by his son
Madhava Dandanayaka, and in his turn he
was succeeded by two of his sons, Ketayya
Dandanayaka and Singana Dandanayaka, the
names of both of whom and the father occur
in the records at Tirupati. It is Madhava
that organised his jftghlr on

401
Bl

HISTORY OF T1RUPATI

the southern frontier of Mysore, and made
Terekanambi his headquarters to develop further
and become the chieftaincy of Danijayakankottai
later. That this was an important frontier and
required careful watching is in evidence as the
whole of the Kongu frontier was a frontier
of contention between the Hoysalas and the
Pandyas. According to Amir Khusru, the
historian of the Muhammadan invasions of South
India, on the first occasion of the Muhammadan
inroad into the Hoysala territory, the Hoysala
armies were actually on the southern frontier of
Kongu operating against Vira Pandya, the son
of Maravarman Kulasekhara, who had a govern-
ment of his own, a-nd had for his sphere of
activity this frontier. That no doubt is one part
of the Hoysala territory open to attack ; but for
any purpose of effective holding of this frontier
as against the enemy, the frontier line must
have taken the part of Tondamandalam rotind
the region of Tirupati, and so we find it.

THE MUHAMMADAN INVASIONS OP THE SOUTH:

But before proceeding any further, we must
consider the Muhammadan irruption into this
region with a view to appraising its influence in
regard to this frontier in particular. After
bringing into well-recognised subordination to
the empire of Delhi both the Hindu states of the
Dakhan, the Yadava state with its capital at

402

tiRUPATI UNDER VlJATANAGAR

Devagiri and the state of Warangal with its
capital much farther east in the Nizam's
Dominions first at Hanurnakonda and then
Warangal, the Muhammadan general Malik
Kafur, the special favourite of Alau-d-din,
obtained his master's permission to carry his
invasions farther south with a view to acquiring
the riches of the temples in South India and
gaining possession of a number of the powerful
elephants of the south, as they constituted
the most efficient arm of the armies of those
days. Malik Kafur had really no difficulty in
obtaining permission on these terms, and arrange-
ments were made for the march of the army
through the friendly and subordinate territory
of the Rajas of Devagiri. As soon as the army
emerged out of the Vindyan Passes of the
Narmadaand Satpura mountains into the Dakhan,
the Devagiri government and its army received
the invading army, and took them over to
Devagiri. When after rest and reorganisation,
the invasion was ready to start again, the
commander-in-chief, whom the Muhammadan
historians call Paras De\o Dalvi (the correspond-
ing Hindu name would be Parasuram Dev, the
Dalavoy or general of the Yadavas) escorted the
army to the southern limits of the Yadava
territory down to his own jaghlr of Sholapflr.
There the army encamped to reorganise itself

403

&ISTORY OF TIRUPATI

for entry into the hostile territory of the south.
During the period of the halt, what might be
regarded as a cavalry raid was undertaken from
Sholapur into the territory of the Hoysalas, and
that was the first invasion of the Hoysala
territory in A. D. 1309—10. The main part of the
Hoysala army was away, but the Hoysala did
make an effort to stand a siege, in the course of
which his capital suffered considerable damage.
The invaders were able to carry their raid further
westwards to the coast of the Arabian Sea and
return with a large quantity of plunder. When,
however, the Hoysala submitted after the first
show of resistance, the Muhammadan general
received his overtures kindly, and sent a
recommendation to imperial headquarters for the
gracious treatment of the Raja. The mission
went under the Hoysala prince, was kindly
received, and returned with a gracious message
from Alau-d-din that the Hoysala territory
would be respected as under the rule of a sub-
ordinate ally. That done Malik Kafur proceeded
southwards on his invasion, feeling safe on the
side of Hoysala in his march to the distant south.
The question now arises as to what road this
invasion took, and this is of considerable import-
ance to the history of Tirupati especially. If the
invasion took the eastern road, it would bring
them very close to Tirupati, and Tirupati itself

404

T1RUPATI UNDER VIJAYANAGAR

must have figured in the history of this invasion;,
But it does not, and Timpati does not appear
to have suffered either in this invasion, or even
in some of the subsequent ones. We have good
reason for believing that the invasion actually
proceeded by way of Bangalore into the Salem
District, and thence on in the direction of
Trichinopoly proceeding therefrom to Madura
and Ramesvaram. The choice of this road for
the march of the army of invasion left the region
of Tirupati aside, and saved it from the attacks
of this army of invasion. The story of this
invasion does not concern us directly. We might
note briefly therefore that the army marched
south, meeting with comparatively little opposi-
tion except for a battle or two when they had to
fight against Vira Pandya, the more active among
the sons of Maravarman Kulasekhara, and then
marched on plundering Srlrangam and Chidam-
baram on the way towards Madura. Having
destroyed the capital of Madura, and carrying a
further raid forward as far as Ramesvaram, the
invasion returned to Delhi the following year
with something like 350 elephant loads of
treasure and much else of warlike material likely
to be of value to the emperor. Malik Kafur's
return to Delhi was followed by trouble and
disturbances at court ending ultimately in the
death of Alau-d-din Khilji, and after one or two

405

HISTORY OF TIRtrPAft

palace revolutions, Mubarak, one of the sons of
Alau-d-din ultimately succeeded to the throne.
This new succession was the occasion for the
subordinate territories, particularly the new
ones. Devagiri now under Harpaldev, a son-in-
law of Ramdev who had submitted to Alau-d-din,
showed an inclination to rebel. Mubarak came
down upon him, punished Harpaldev severely,
and made the territory of Devagiri the
first subordinate kingdom in the Dakhan. With
a view to riveting his hold on this territory,
he sent out a number of Amirs at the head of
their troops to occupy salient places in the
kingdom with their troops. This made the
Hoysala realise the danger of his position and
prepare himself against eventualities. After
Mubarak returned to headquarters, he sent out
an invasion to the south under his favourite
slave Khusru, a Grnjarati-Hindu convert to
Islam, who went on this southern invasion and
showed an inclination to tarry long in South
India. But a palace revolution called for his
presence in Delhi, and he went away post haste
leaving South India to itself. It was not till the
Khiljis were overthrown and the Tughlaks
established themselves that they thought of
South India again, and an invasion came
under Muhammad-bin-Tughlak as a prince in
A. D. 1323. It came some way towards the

406

TIRUPAT1 UNDER VIJATANAQAR

south, and had to turn back from the frontiers
of South India owing to an outbreak of cholera
in the camp. But Muhammad Tughlak was not
the man to forget. After he had placed himself
upon the throne securely, he sent out an
expedition definitely with a view to the conquest
of the south. Naturally the invasion took the
course of its predecessors generally, and had to
make sure of communications, and the loyalty of
those whom they left in possession of power on
the route of march. Naturally therefore an
invasion had to be sent against the Hoysalas.
Their capital Halabid suffered rather more
severely this time than before. Having assured
themselves of the Hoysala remaining loyal by
this demonstration of power, the army marched
south, and was so far successful in this invasion
that Muhammad found it possible to establish a
government in distant Madura, the capital of the
Pandyas, under his loyal and doughty general,
Jalalu-d-din JLsan Shah, thus laying the foun-
dations of a Muhammadan state ruling in
Madura, though only for a comparatively short
period of fifty years. Muhammad Tughlak's
invasions on this occasion probably came to the
south not with the avowed object of con-
quering the south, but because a rival claimant
to the throne had set himself up in rebellion
in the south Dakhan as against the claims

407

HISTORY OF TIRUPAT1

of Muhammad .to the throne of his father.
Bahau-d-diri Ghishtasp or Ghirshasp, as the
Muhammadan historians name him, was a prince
of the Tughlak family, a nephew of Ghiyasu-d-
din Tughlak, the father of Muhammad, brought
up in the royal family and perhaps with a
view to succession as he claimed it. Since
Muhammad was suspected of having brought
about the death of the father with a view to
securing the succession, it seems likely that the
nephew put forward his claim and set up in
rebellion from his headquarters at Sagar near
Gulbarga in the Nizam's Dominions. The
invasion came with a view to punish him But
he found asylum first of all in the ruler of
Kampli, who, loyal to his promise, would rather
lay down his life than surrender a fugitive who
sought asylum of him. The valiant Raja passed
him on to the neighbouing Hoysala, as being
more capable of giving him the asylum that he
needed, fought and died, thus putting an end
to the kingdom of Rampli. The invasion
continued and marched on HalabnJ, and, after
destroying the capital partially, it proceeded
further south, as was stated already. Jalalu-d-din
Asan Shah, the general ruled in the name of
Muhammad-bin Tughlak from Madura, and
declared himself independent in A. D. 1336,
when Muhammad was engaged in putting down

408

T1RUPATI UNDER VIJAYANAQAR

a rebellion of the distant ruler of Bengal, who
had already set himself up under Muhammad's
father. The opportunity, when yet Muhammad
was engaged in his war against the Bengal
Sultan, was too good to be lost, and the governor
of Madura followed the example of Bengal and
set up in rebellion. Madura was too far off
for Muhammad's personal intervention, and as
Muhammad had to attend to things nearer home,
this distant southern rebel had to be neglected
for the time. Muhammad's troubles grew so
much in volume and variety, that he was not
able at any time afterwards to pay his personal
attention to this rebel at Madura, and his
independence remained unchallenged.

THE HOYSALA REACTION TO THE MUHAMMADAN

SULTANATE OF MADURA : The establishment of
the Sultanate in Madura under Sultan Jalalu-d-din
Asan Shah marked a stage in the expansion of
the Muhammadan power in the South, and the
establishment of something like a governorship
in Madura which very soon developed into an
independent state, was fraught with consequences
which might have proved dangerous to Hindu
India in the fields alike of current politics and cul-
ture. It should have appeared in this character
even to contemporaries, and specially to those
among them who at all cherished any responsi-
bility in respect of the country round them,

409

BISTORT OF T1RVPATI

particularly in regard to matters touching the
religion and culture of the country. At the time
to which we have now arrived, say A. D. 1835, the
only Hindu power worth the name which could
really feel concerned with matters like those was
that of the Hoysala, the Pandya and the Chola
empires having gone out of existence, and no
other state having taken the place of either the
one or the other or both. If it is a question of
any Hindu state making an effort to set a term
to the expansion of the Muhammadan power and
keep it within limits, it could only be the
Hoysala state which was at all in a position to
do so with any chance of success. It became
therefore the special responsibility of the Hoysala
Vira Ballala III to exert himself in regard to
this matter. But one could appreciate his
position which was invidious in the extreme.
He had acknowledged himself subordinate to the
Muhammadan power at Delhi under the Khiljis.
The Tughlak state could claim the same con-
sideration as the political successor of the Khilji
empire at Delhi. But the moment that a rebel
set himself up against the legitimate authority of
Muhammad Tughlak, this consideration would
immediately cease to have any value as against
this new state. He wa« not bound by any ties
of loyalty to the newly established Sultanate of
Madura for one thing. But he saw also clearly

410

T1RUPAT1 UNDER VUAYANAQAR

that Muhammad took no action against the rebel
and showed no inclination to do so in the
immediate future. Things across his northern
border in the Dakhan were moving faftt.
Rebellion succeeded rebellion, and a new Mussal-
man state was in course of formation. While
this was not exactly clear in A. D. 1336, indi-
cations certainly were not wanting to show that
very soon Dakhan would follow in the footsteps
of the other Muhainmadan states, such ae
Gujarat and Malva. So between the nether
millstone and the other of a rising Muhammadan
state in the Dakhaii, if they should ultimately
succeed against Muhammd Tughlak and set up
in independence, and a Muhammadan kingdom,
small though it be to begin with, well established
in Madura under a capable governor, the
Hoysala's position would become precarious in the
extreme even though it did not seem likely that
the Tughlak sovereign would actively exercise
his authority and demand the Hoysala's loyalty
at the time. If the very Mussalman governorships
were in rebellion, Hindu states perhaps might
easily follow their example. At any rate, when
the empire of Muhammad ceased to exist, such
Hindu states as existed need not follow in the
trail of any succeeding state in Delhi. What
indeed was the course of action that the Hoysala
was going to adopt was matter which would, to

BISTOftY OF T1RUPATI

* very great extent, depend upon his own
interpretation of the situation, and the courage
and capacity with which he could carry out
his policy. Notwithstanding the submission that
he made to Alau-d-din and the favourable terms
that he obtained from him, he suffered badly in
the invasion sent out by Muhamrnad-bin-Tughlak
in A. D. 1327, which was so far successful as to
partially destroy his capital and otherwise do
him considerable damage. Perhaps Muhammad
made no secret of his ultimate intention to
conquer and annex South India to his own
territory in direct contradiction to the policy of
Alau-d-din, who made it clear, to his generals at
any rate, that he was not anxious to extend his
empire to great distances from Delhi, and across
the Vindhya frontier particularly. The invasion
of A. D. 1327 should have shown clearly to
Vira Ballala that he could not regard his position
safe even in his own territory. He must have
been driven to take his measures accordingly.
From A. D. 1328 he made Tiruvannainalai his
headquarters, not because his capital of Halabi<J
or Belfir had really become untenable, but
perhaps as providing an important strategic
centre from which he could operate advantage-
ously and carry out his policy according to the
exigencies of the moment. The advantage of
the position in Tiruvannamalai would be that it

412

triRUPATI ttNDER VIJATANAGAtt

was more or less on the high road to the South
by the eastern way, from which he could watch
the movements of the Muhammadans even if
they should take the fiirther interior central
route towards the South. The territory behind
Tiruvannamalai, and to the north of it was more
or less under his authority, and the assistance
of its governors and the whole of its resources
would be available to him in his operations
against the Muhammadans, who had now perhaps
fortified themselves in Kannanur as an outpost
of Madura, and as safeguarding communication
with the north for the Muhammadans by the
central route. What had been done under
Singana Nayaka, and the strengthening of the
Southern frontier under his father Madhava
Dandanayaka alike woiild indicate clearly that
it was provision made for guarding the Southern
frontier from which a Muhammadan attack from
the South would be possible now, with a
Sultanate established in Madura. That seems to
have been the moving consideration with Vira
Ballala in moving out towards Tiruvannamalai,
and making it more his capital than Halabid or
Belur. The block of territory extending along
the foothills of the Eastern Grhats from the
southern frontier of Mysore eastwards to the sea,
was a very important salient both for offence
and defence against the Muhammadans, and

413

seems to have proved a safe belt of country, if
for nothing else, at least for communications
from one part of the country to the other.
During the seven years following when Madura
was only a governorship under the authority of
Muhammad Tughlak, he had to be very cautious,
and lay his plans secretly and work without
causing inconvenient suspicions ; but when once
the governor of Madura declared himself inde-
pendent, and Muhammad showed no inclination
to march down with his accustomed speed to
bring the rebel to reason, the Hoysala could
adopt a bolder line of action, and take steps to
carry out actively a policy to shut in the Sultan
of Madura within narrow limits and bring about
the extinction of the Sultanate if possible ; if
that were not possible, at least to confine it
within the narrowest possible limits. He therefore
gradually exerted himself to extend his authority
over what was the Chola empire, and, through
the Pudukkottai state and through the Ramnad
district, so as to limit the activities of the
Muhammadan Sultan to the Madura-Trichino-
poly route at the very most, and a comparatively
small distance to the north of the Coleroon.
When the Ballala carried out these strategic
movements of his to a considerable degree of
success, it was clear even to the Muhammadan
in Madura that he meant nothing less than the

T1RUPATI UNDER VIJATANAQAR

extinction of the Muhammadan Sultanate which
seemed then possible, as Muhammad's activities
were not likely to be of any avail in the distant
south, and the state of the Dakhan gave the
best guarantee that assistance from the north
was altogether impossible. The Muhammadan
historians consequently complain that the
Hoysala was developing a movement to surround
and confine the Sultanate of Madura to Madura
itself and no more. We find him ultimately
carrying out this policy almost to a successful
conclusion after seven years of strenuous
activity, when, at the head of an army of 1,25,000
troops he placed himself in Trichinopoly, and
thus separating the garrison of the Muhammadan
cantonment at Kannanur from Madura, the
headquarters of the Sultan, made an effort to
defeat the two parts of the Muhammadan
armies in detail and ultimately put an end to
Muhammadan power in the south. But unfortu-
nately for the Hindu movement in the south, he
fell into the hands of his enemies at the moment
of victory, when he had successfully beaten
back a desperate attack from the Muhammadans
in Madura. He fell into the hands of a raiding
party and was put to death, an old man of 80
that he was as stated by the Muhammadan
historians. This outspread of the Hoysala
power is what is indicated in the two or three

415

HISTORY OF TIRUPAT1

inscriptions in Tirupati which refer to the
Hoysala officers Ketayya Dandanayaka and
Singana Dandanayaka, the brothers, who became
afterwards the founders of the family that ruled
at Dannayakankottai in the Salem District as
their headquarters. The unfortunate result of
the battle of Trichinopoly should ordinarily
have put an end to this Hindu movement once
and for all, but for the confused condition of the
Tughlak empire, and the almost impossible
struggle that Muhammad Tughlak had to main-
tain for the next ten years against his rebel
governors, culminating in his death without
achieving the success that he should have under
more favourable cinwmstances. South India
was left to itself during all this period, as the
Dakhan Sultans, even when they had established
themselves into a well-formed kingdom in
A. D. 1346, had to be watchful of the activities
of Muhammad Tughlak, and could not move
freely and actively southwards. That was the
saving feature of the situation, and what followed
seems to be a concerted action on the part of
these officers and governors of the Hoysala,
continuing and carrying out the policy of Vira
Ballala to success so as to lead ultimately to the
establishment of a united Hindu state of the
South, which became later the empire of
Vijayanagar.

416

TIRUPAT1 UNDER VUAYANA&AR

THE REVIVAL OP HOYSALA POWER LEADS TO THE
ESTABLISHMENT OP THE EMPIRE OF VIJAYANAGAR i

The course of events which culminated in the
establishment of Vijayanagar gives indication of
a gradual revival and expansion of the Hoysala
power after the Muhammadan invasions, parti-
cularly after the invasion of Muhammad Tughlak
in the year A. D. 1327. It is likely that, even
this invasion went down upon Trichinopoly and
Srlrangam, as its main objective, particularly the
latter, and as such must have avoided the road to
the east leaving the region round Tirupati quite
clear as it were. This is made very likely by
what is stated of the happenings in the south
resulting from this invasion. The Kovil Oluhuj
an account of the history of the temple at
Sriraiigam, which records most of the principal
events relating to the history of the temple at
Srlrangam, gives a description of what actually
took place on this occasion. The inhabitants of
Srlrangam were celebrating one of their famous
anmial festivals, in which the image of the God
is carried to the river Coleroon and set down in
the middle of the river bed for getting through a
number of items of various acts of worship, till,
late in the evening, the God is taken back to the
temple in a huge procession. It was in the course
of this festivity all unexpectedly that the invading
cavalry of Muhammad Tughlak clattered down

417
53

HISTORY OF TIRUPAT1

to the banks of the Coleroon along the road
from Kannanur. Before the invading forces
could come into touch, people immediately in
attendance upon the image quickly came to a
resolution to save the image of the God, the
festival image which was meant for being
carried about, and Lokacharya, a sturdy man of
middle age, carried the image in a palanquin
and walked away through unfrequented ways,
and escaped through Pudukkottai avoiding public
roads. Taking Tirukkottiyur, Tirurnaliruihsolai,
where he made halts, he moved out whenever he
heard of the cavalry behind him, to carry the
image in safety across into the Travancore
country, moving from place to place as each one
became untenable. The image was at last taken
to safety in Calicut, where it remained for some
time. As soon as the imminent danger from
these divisions of the invading army was over,
they thought it best to bring the image to a
place of safety, where it might remain unmolested
till the time should come for its being reinstalled
in the holy place of iSrirangam. They thought
the best place to go to would be Tirupati, and
moved out from Calicut carrying the image with
them, reached the place Terukanambi in Mysore,
where they stayed rather comfortably for a
while, and proceeded further on their journey
till they reached Punganur in the Chittoor

418

TIRUPATI UNDER VIJAYANAGAR

District on the high way leading from the
Mysore plateau into the Madras Presidency.
On reaching the place, they discovered detach-
ments of the Muhammadan forces were hovering
about, and therefore they resolved to retrace
their steps, not being able to reach their
destination of Tirupati. As the next best safe
place they took the image over to the temple at
Melkota, where it was kept in hiding for some
time, and then, when the roadways were safe,
they carried the image over secretly to Tirupati
where it was kept in safety in the charge of a
worshipping priest, his brother-in-law, perhaps
a somewhat younger man, and a young boy of a
son. Hearing of the threat of an attack by
Muhammadan forces, the priest tied himself and
the image to a rope, and asked the brother-^n-law
to let him slowly down a scarp on the hill, on the
western side into a deep glade unfrequented by
man generally. There the image is said to have
lain under the care of these three till the priest
died, followed some time after by the brother-in-
law, and the young boy had grown up to be a
man of age. When, on an occasional discovery
by a forester, the information was carried to
Narayanavaram, the governors of
who played a prominent part in
of the Muhammadan garrisons
and in the establishment of

419

BISTORT OF TIRUPAT1

empire in the army of Kumara Kampana of
Vijayanagar, found occasion, chiefly through the
influence of the minister Gopanarya, as he is
called, to take over the image and instal it in the
temple at Srirangam back again. This story
throws light upon the general position of the
region round about Tirupati and the condition
in which that region happened to be at the
time. The fact that, owing to the turmoil, they
thought Tirupati was about the safest place
available and that they could move along
unmolested by way of Terukanambi across
Mysore to Tirupati gives indication that the
territory concerned was under a state which
remained, more or less unmolested, in spite of
the Muhammadan invasions, although the road-
ways were far from being absolutely safe. This
must have taken place some years after the
invasion of A. D. 1328, which indeed was what
set the image of Ranganatha on the move.
Perhaps it actually refers to a period when the
authority of Singana Nayaka, or it may be his
successors still prevailed over this region, the
region round Tirupati extending westwards to
as far as Terukanambi and perhaps beyond,
wkidu seems more or less the condition inferable
lrv» t^ Account of Ibn Batuta as well. So
xfttring the period of turmoil of the Muhammadan
invasions and «the years following, Tirupati

420

TIRUPATI UNDER VUAYANAGAR

remained a comparatively safe place to offer
protection even to the image of Ranganatha
from orlrangarn. It is perhaps the possession of
this region in comparative security and its
providing a good place of retreat in times of
need, that induced Vira Ballala to establish
himself in Tiruvannamalai by preference, a
fortified place on the high road leading from the
north to the south along one of the well-known
highways of the south. Not only did that
provide a place of safety with a safe retreat
behind for emergencies, but it also proved a
convenient centre from which to develop his
further movements against the Sultans of
Madura as circumstances proved favourable. The
establishment of the Vijayanagar empire may
be regarded as a fact soon after A. D. 1358
when the coinage of the Sultan of Madura
ceases ; it would mark one further stage in the
growth perhaps in A. D. 1369-70 when the image
of Ranganatha was, according to a record in the
temple, reinstalled in Srlrangam. This latter
date may be the better date for the establish-
ment of the empire, apart from the date of the
foundation of the city. The conclusion of the
successful campaign of Kumara Karnpana signa-
lised by the restoration of the destroyed temple at
Madura, and the revival of the great temple at
Srlrangam would certainly mark the date of the

421

HISTORY OF TIRVPATI

successful accomplishment of the mission which
ended in the establishment of the empire of
Vijayanagar. The inscriptional records that we
find in Tirupati take us to about this date,
and the earliest names of Vijayanagar nilers
and officers who find mention happen to be
Bukkaraya, posssibly the first of the name,
Kumara Kampana, his son, the princely viceroy
of the Mulbagal Maharajya and Saluva Mangu,
the first great name in the dynasty of the
Saluvas of Narayanavaram. Bukkaraya must
have been the ruler. Kumara Kampana wavS
responsible for leading the invasion which
brought into the empire the rebel Sambuvarayas
of the Palar basin, and ultimately defeated the
Sultan of Madura himself, Sa]uva Mangu playing
the leading part in this South Indian campaign.
We shall now take up the tale of the inscriptions
at Tirupati during the first century of the
existence of Vijayanagar.

THE REGION OP TIRUPATI PASSES UNDER VIJAYA-
NAGAR ALMOST FROM THE BEGINNING t Before

taking up the actual subject-matter of the ins-
criptions of Vijayanagar, some of the features
in which these differ from the inscriptions of
the Chola and other dynasties must be noted
carefully. The first important point is that the
dates are marked not in the regnal years of
the ruling sovereign as in the case of the earlier

422

TIRUPATI UNDER VIJAYANAGAR

inscriptions. They are generally given in the
iSaka year with of course details of the date.
This, while it makes the dating precise and
undoubted, is therefore very convenient ;
but these inscriptions fall short in historical
value as they do not give the historical informa-
tion supplied in the form of Prasasti or Meykklrti.
The second point in regard to this is that the date
being thus given, the ruler's name generally
need not be mentioned unless he has something
directly to do with the subject-matter of the
inscription. The records therefore would be
more or less of a private character except in a
certain number of cases where royal personages,
or members of the royal family, make the
donations. Bearing these limitations in mind,
we find that there is a large number of inscrip-
tions in the Tirupati temple itself relating to this
period in the first century of the history of
Vijayanagar. Actually they extend from No. 178
to 236 of the first volume, and just a small
number in the second volume. The first of these
records, No. 178, has no date as it has come
down to us, and just makes mention of a
Bukkaraya, and makes provisions for a daily
food-service at the temple on the hill. It
probably refers to Bukka I. As we have stated
already, the orthodox dating for the foundation
of Vijayanagar is A. D. 1336, and that refers to

423

HISTORY OF TIRVPATI

the foundation of the city of Vijayanagar, in its
original name Vidyanagara. It would be a date
of the foundation of the empire in a sense. But
the real foundations of the empire would be some-
what later, and could be marked off in the first
years of Harihara II just over fifty years after
this date. The actual completion of the opera-
tions and the establishment of an empire in the
south perhaps may be dated more appropriately
somewhere about the year A. D. 1371, when the
image of God Ranganatha was reinstalled at
Srirangam, giving thereby the clearest indication
that the first rulers of Vijayanagar felt they had
brought the country under their authority, and
the establishment of Hindu South India, free of
Muhammadan power, had become more or less a
fact But even as early as A. D. 1346, we find
inscriptions of the Vijayanagar brothers, Hari-
hara I or Bukka I, extending eastwards as far as
Udayagiri in the Nellore District which would
mean that the territory with which we are
particularly concerned was included in their
empire already ; and, about this early period,
we find their governments at Penukonda and
farther east in the Anantapur District on the one
side, and at Mulbagal and the roads leading from
there into the Madras Presidency on the other,
that is the high road leading into Chittoor. We
may therefore take it that the territory round

424

<
>•

111

T1RUPATI UNDER VIJAYANA&AR

Tirupati passed under the authority of Vijaya-
nagar almost directly from that of the Hoysala
rulers.

THE EARLIEST RECORDS MENTION BUKKA, 3ALUVA
MANGU, KUMARA KAMPANA AND HARIHARA lit

Inscriptions 179 and 180 refer to the same matter
and recorded in two languages, the first in
Telugu, and the next in Tamil. The Telugu part
gives the date Saka 1281, corresponding to 6th
July 1359 and refers to the performance of a
service by the Mahamamlalesvara Mangideva
Maharaja. This apparently refers to, from the
partial title given, the Saluva ruler who played
a prominent part in the southern invasions of
Kumara Kampala, and distinguished himself in
the campaigns which succeeded in bringing
the whole of the southern territory under
Vijayanagar, He belonged to the Saluva family,
of which we shall hear more later, and was one
of the earliest chieftains to distinguish himself.
His benefaction to the temple consisted in his
covering the roofing with gold and setting up
a gold pinnacle. The former part of it, the
covering with gold is mentioned distinctly in the
Tamil record in the expression pon-menju. Of
course, the Tamil expression would be jpon-
veyndu, with also the variant meyndu, an
expression which is used in respect of similar
service rendered to the Srirangam temple by

426
64

HISTORY OF TIRUPAT1

Jatavarman Sundara Pandya and in similar
connections. Among the titles given to this
ruler is a Kannada expression Mlsara Ganda.
The full expression would be Medinl Mlsara
Ganda, meaning the man among those in the
world with moustaches which means, ' the man
among men,' a title which became a peculiar
Saluva title, although other chieftains and
dynasties sometimes affected it also. No. 181
connects itself with Sri Vlra Kumara Kampanija
U^aiyar, with various titles generally associated
with him. The subject-matter of the inscription
is the grant of 28 cows and one breeding bull for
lighting a perpetual lamp in the temple. This
benefaction seems to have been made by an
officer of Kampanna Udaiyar of the rank of
pekkadai, as it is called in Tamil. This is the
equivalent of the Kanarese Pergadai, a title of
high rank analogous to the Tamil perum-taram.
It is noteworthy that the titles given of this
Kumara Kampana should be in Kanarese even
in the region of Tirupati. These titles are
Mahaman^alesvara, HarirSya (arirSyd) - vibftda,
and there is a part of the word Ganda with a
gap previous which may be filled up from his
other inscriptions, Bhashege - Tappuva B&yara
Gayda. Of course, the other possibility would
be MVdinl Mlsara Ganda, which is not usually
found applied to Kumara Kampala or other

426

TtRUPATI VNDKR PlJAYANAGA*

rulers of Vijayanagar. No. 182 seems to be a
mere continuation, and contains but one remark.
Since the name of the year is given, and we
know the period of time, the year Kilaka would
correspond to £aka 1290, A. D. 1368. No. 183
is interesting, but it is badly mutilated in the
form in which it is available to us. It refers
to a Sambukula Chakravarti Tiru-Mallinadan
oambuvaraya Perumal, and makes some bene-
faction in favour of the temple. The intrusion
of this Sambuvaraya inscription into Tirupati is
indeed interesting as the Sambuvarayans held
rule in the Palar basin with their capitals at
Tiruvallam, and ultimately Vrinchipuram near
Vellore, where Kumara Kampana defeated them,
and brought them under the authority of the
Vijayanagar empire. But since in this case, we
know no date, we could not say anything more
about him, nor to what period the record actually
belongs, although we are entitled to infer that
in the best period of their authority the
Sambuvarayan influence extended as far as
Tirupati. No. 184 is of date & 1301 or A. D. 1380.
This is a private document more or less, as it
refers to a benefaction merely. It makes
provision for food-service on the 2nd day of
certain festivals in which the image of the God
and His consorts are taken to a pavilion called
Ajflhappiran. In the recorded provision is also

427

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

included a separate provision for $ri Varaha-
nayanar, that is, the boar form of Vishnu, whose
shrine is on the west bank of the Svami Pushka-
rini tank. The capital of 450 gold pieces was
deposited by a Vaishnava Kalikanridasa, son of
Alahappiranar. The expenses of the service
were to be met from the interest on this capital de-
posited, and was accepted by the Sri Vaishnavas.
The document was committed to writing by the
temple accountant, Tiruninravur Udaiyan, which
would mean the lord of the village of Tiruninra-
vur, now Tinnanur. In a number of documents
following, this accountant's name occurs, and
he is the responsible author of all the documents
in the temple, and was under the supervision
of the Vaishnavas of Tirupati. In regard to
the donor, his name has one of the titles of
Tirumangai Alvar, and he was one of the leaders
among the Vaishnavas of Tirupati.

OTHEft DOCUMENTS OP HARIHARA'S REIGN i The

next one No. 185, which is on the north wall
of the Varadarajasvami shrine in the temple, is
of great interest, and gives the name of the
year. From this detail and further attendant
circumstances, the date would work out to the
18th of January 1388. It refers to the deposit of
100 gold pieces into the treasury by Mullai
Tiruvengada Jlyar in residence in his Math a in
one of the flower-gardens apparently. From the

428

TTRVPATI UNDER VIJAYANAQAR

income of this deposit, service had to be made
on a particular festival day as is generally done
on other festival days in the shape of food, etc.,
and this was made in the name of Harihararaya
obviously Harihara II. The donor's name is,
not actually mentioned ; but the donation is
entrusted to the care of the particular Sanyasin,
one among the managers of the temple. The
same accountant, Tiruninravur Udaiyan, put the
document in writing. No. 186 seems to be a
continuation of this document. No. 187 refers to
& 1312, and would correspond to A. D. 1390. It
is an agreement between the stanattar (people of
the locality) and Mullai Tiruvenga^a Jiyar,
supervisor of the flower-garden Arisanalaiyam.
This makes provision for a food-service during
the Margali (December — January) festival, when
through the whole month the God and His
consorts listen to the recital of the Tiruppavai
from the Prabhanda works. This makes provision
for distribution of food during the middle ten
days, and on the concluding day, for the God at
Tirupati, and similar provision is also included
for Govindaraja Perumal in Lower Tirupati.
The amount of deposit was 1,200 gold pieces
from the interest of which the expenses of the
provision have to be met. There are also details
as to the distribution of the food, and there is
the interesting remark at the end that, when

429

BISTORT Of T1KUPAT1

Tiruvenga<Ja Jlyar should die, his successor in
the office should hold himself responsible for
seeing to the working out of this provision, and
be entitled to the privileges that it carries along
with it. It is noted that his successor should be
an Ekangi (a single man) like himself. No. 188
is an imperfect document, and contains only a
detail in regard to the distribution of food.
The inscriptions so far are all of them from
the hill shrine. With 189 we come to the
Govindaraja temple. It is on the south wall of
the Partbasarathisvami shrine in the temple
precincts, and is the same document as No. 187
that we discussed before, where the provision
made is a joint provision for the temple at
Tirupati and the temple of Govindaraja. No. 190
again is in the hill shrine and refers to S. 1314,
corresponding to the 25th February 1393. It is
again an agreement between the stanattdr and
the Jlyar referred to above, and makes provision
for certain services to the God on the day
following the conclusion of the festivals through-
out the year. For doing this, 600 gold pieces
.were deposited in the treasury, and the service
was to be conducted as described. The same
accountant reduced the document to writing.
No. 191 is outside the temple in a building on the
road leading from the hill shrine to Chandragiri,
It refers to the &aka date 1326 corresponding to

430

T1RUPATI UNDER VIJAYANAQAR

18th December 1404. It refers to an agreement
between the stftnattftr and one Giridevappa, who
was a younger brother of Santappa Nagapan$a
who was himself the son of Sayagna of the
Atreyagotra. This Sayanna apparently was a
member of the ruling dynasty from the gotra
which is the gotra of the family. It makes
provision for a service on the 7th day festival
in a mayfapa constructed in the midst of a
garden in a locality some little way from the
temple, and from the locality it seems to refer to
a place near Lower Tirupati.

DEVARAYA II AND THE INSTITUTION OP VEDA
CHANTING IN TIRUPATI i No. 192 is an important
document in the hill shrine. It refers to the
year £. 13B1 corresponding to 5th December
1429. It is a benefaction by the great Vijaya-
nagar emperor Devaraya, the second of the name.
It seems to refer to the grant of land in certain
villages to the temple, taking into it certain
parts already given to the God. From the
income out of the land, or villages belonging to
the Chandragiri treasury thus given, provision
had to be made, in the name of the king, for
certain services of food, etc., on certain festivals.
The document is broken up and the full meaning
of it cannot be made out. A certain number of
villages are mentioned paying revenue into the
treasury at Chandragiri, and it is those that are

481

HISTORY OF T1RUPATI

made over to the temple from out of which the
provision was to be made. The village Ila-
mandaya figures in this group. No. 193 belongs
tathe Saka year 1352, corresponding to 1st July
1430. It is in the Tirupati temple, and is a
Sanskrit verse and refers to the grant of a gold
patta (a plate for wearing on the face) by prince
Srigiri, the son of a Bissanna Devaraya. The
next one 184 also comes from the hill temple
and refers to S. 1330, with details of date
corresponding to 13th March 1409, and is an
agreement between the stanattar and a certain
Mallanna, otherwise Madhavadasa, a disciple of
Gopinathayya. This is provision for a food-
service and the burning of a perpetual lamp.
The really interesting part of the document
consists in this, namely, that the donor repaired
the irrigation channel from the river at his own
expense, leading it into the tank near the village
Avilali, and thereby bringing the lands below the
tank into cultivation. Of this 5,000 kuli of
hitherto uncultivated land was to be reclaimed
and broiight into cultivation at his expense, and,
from the income therefrom, the expenses of the
food-service should be met. He made separate
provision for the lamp by presenting 82 cows
including calves. The repairing of the channel,
the making of the tank serviceable for agricul-
ture, the reclaiming of the lands hitherto

482

TIRUPATI UNDER VUATANAQAR

uncultivable, were all made at the expenditure
of the donor, and then made over for the temple
service. No. 195 conveys the same information
without any detail in a Sanskrit verse. There
Mallanna is described as Amatyasekhara, the
chief of the body of ministers. No. 196 is of
date £. 1339 corresponding to A. D. 25th August
1417. The same Chandragiri Mallanna repaired
from the base to the top a pavilion in the
temple. No. 197 belongs to S. 1366 equivalent
to 2nd October 1444, and is an agreement
between the stanattar and a Mallandaiyar of
Chandragiri son of Devarasa, and is a provision
for a food-service like those mentioned in
Nos. 194 and 195, and even the terms are similar,
the construction of a canal, the bringing of
land into cultivation etc. No. 198 refers to the
repairs carried out to the Anandavimana, that is,
the tower over the sanctum of the temple by
Madhavadasa, a disciple of Gopinathayya. We
cannot be positive, although it seems likely,
whether this Gopinatha is not the same as
Gopa^arya, who was responsible for the administ-
ration of the territory under the rule of the
Saluvas in the early years of the Vijayanagar
empire. The next following group of documents,
Nos. 199 to 202, are all from the hill shrine at
Tirupati and relate to one particular subject,
the institution of Veda-chanting in the temple.

433
55

B1STO&Y OF T1RVPAT1

They are all of £aka 1355, although the figure
for fifty is damaged in the first record. There*
fore the date corresponds regularly to 22rid
November 1433. The interesting part of the
document is that a Vtda-parayana (chanting of
the Veda) by a number of Brahmans in the
temple itself should be made at stated times, and
along with the processions when the image of
the deity is being carried round on festival
occasions. The chanting of the Veda was
instituted in this case in the name of the ruling
sovereign Devaraya and came about as follows.
The leading Sri Vaishnava Brahman Alahappira-
nar, son of Tiru Kalikanridasa made a represen-
tation to Devanna Udaiyar in the following
terms. He pointed out that, for the God,
Tiruvengadamudaiyan, there were already pro-
vided all the features of greatness, and the one
desideratum was Veda-par ay ana, and suggested
it would be well if this could be instituted in the
name of the ruling sovereign Devaraya Maharaja,
who must be the great Devaraya II of the first
dynasty of Vijayanagar. As the text words it,
this leader of the Vaishnava community in
Tirupati pointed out actually, to the local ruler
apparently, that, for the God in the temple*
everything that constituted features of greatness
was provided for, and that this one only was not,
and that it would be well if this defect also

434

T1RUPATI UNDER VIJAYANAQAR

should be remedied, and in case the governor
agreed to do it, that the institution may be
introduced in the name of the reigning sovereign.
These statements arise clearly from the language.
The Devastanam translation leaves much to be
desired. The part is translated that the chanting
of the Veda 4 ceased to be conducted,' which
would mean that the Veda-parayana was being
conducted, but it was given up at some time or
other, and what was done now is but a revival
of the institution. The terms of the original
records* give no authority for this statement.
On the face of it, the language would simply
mean the Veda-chanting was not there, and the
request was that it might be provided for. The
arrangement made was that the governor ordered
one half of the revenue of a village called
Sittakkuttai, which was being paid into the state
treasury (RSja Bhandara), should be set apart
for this service ; and the subsequent documents
mention it that, as this provision was found
inadequate, the other half of the revenue of the
same village, which was paid into the temple
treasury ($rl Bhandara) be also appropriated for
this particular purpose ; the temple treasury

DZvast&nam Ins. Vol. I, No. 199,
435

HISTORY OF T1RUPAT1

being compensated by the other Devadanam
villages round about, which are named, agreeing
to pay quotas to make up the sum, into the temple
treasury itself. The document as it has come
down to us here is an agreement between the
stBnatt&r of Tirupati, and the Mahajana of
ormivasapuram, otherewise Sittakkuttai, which
is said to be the aharam, the village in the
enjoyment of Kalikanridasar, the first (Mudaliyar)
among the iSrl Vaishnavas in Tirupati. This
institution is a matter of considerable importance,
and the question arises whether in Tirupati there
was no Veda-parayanam at all down to the !§aka
year 1355, when it was actually instituted as
stated in these records. On the authority of the
record we have to take it that Veda-parayanam
did not form a part of the institutions in the
temple. We have so far not come upon any
records that makes any mention of it, although
we cannot very well point out specifically where
exactly it might find mention. For one thing in
all the arrangements that Ramanuja is said to
have made in the Sri Venkatachala Itihasamala,
this does not occur, as it might well have, had
it existed. This does not mean that Veda-
parayana was not usual in temple service, or
even in Vaishnava temples. The way that this is
mentioned on this particular occasion presumes
that it was one of the usual adjuncts, and the

436

T1RUPATI UNDER VIJAYANAGAR

absence of it in Tirupati was the really remark-
able feature. The chanting of the Veda is well
known in the Tamil country, as the Maduraikanji
makes pointed reference to " the excellent Vedas
being illuminatingly chanted." It is also under
reference in a poem which glorifies the excellent
chanting of the Rig* Veda as constituting one of
the essential qualifications of a good Brahman.
The poet and critic Rajasekhara, who lived at
the commencement of the 10th century, states
it in clear terms that, for excellent Veda-chanting,
one ought to come all the way down to the
Dravida country in the whole of India. The
absence of a Veda-parayanam therefore must
have been peculiar only to Tirupati, It is just
possible that it was absent in Tirupati, because
we have had occasion to notice that Tirupati
proved a place which did not provide the con-
veniences of life, and therefore there were
comparatively few people that actually lived on
the hill. The complaint had been that even such
essentials as the supply of water and the supply
of flower proved unsatisfactory from time to time
and had to be arranged for specially, both in the
days of Alavandar and subsequently in the days
of Ramanuja. It may be therefore that in
Tirupati, the chanting of the Veda was not usual,
although it seems .very strange that Ramanuja
should not have provided for it as he was so

437

HISTORY OF T1RUPATI

careful to provide for so many other things of
even lesser importance in respect of the Tirupati
shrine. Record No. 200 contains the latter half
of this agreement. No. 201 begins with the same
introduction referring to Bivaraya's reign, giving
the &aka date 1355, and is an agreement by
which the villages belonging to the temple both
in Tirukkudavur-nadu and Vaikunthavala-nadu
entered into an agreement with the stanattar
that they would see to the incidence of revenue
being paid to the 24 Brahmans, so that they
may render the service of chanting the Veda
without interruption for all time, and the
signature of a number of leading villagers is
given as authority for this document. This puts
the institution of Veda-chanting on a footing of
permanence. No. 202 continues the details of
the agreement in this behalf, and fixes the
amount payable by the various parties to the
agreement. No. 203 similarly is an agreement
signed on the other side for the same purpose.

OTHER RECORDS OP DEVARAYA II i No. 204 also

from Tirupati is one which seems to refer to
Devaraya II also and bears date S. 1358. It is
an agreement by Sadagopanambi Alahappiraiiar
Grovinda selling a house to the temple treasury
for 1,000 gold pieces. The name Devanna
Udaiyar occurs in the middle, and refers to the
property as acquired by this Govinda as the

438,

TIRVPAT1 UNDER VUATANAQAR

property of a lady who had no children,
apparently some relation of his. Then follow the
usual conditions in regard to sale of property.
No. 205 seems to be a similar document, a
similar deed of a house sold to the temple
treasury from out of the money received from
Devanna Udaiyar. The amount involved was
4,200, the value of two and three fourths of a
ground including the building, followed by
signatures of this Govinda, the temple accountant
and a number of icharya Purushas of the
locality. No. 206 is a document belonging to
Devaraya's reign. The date is gone, and even
otherwise, the document is too far gone to be
intelligible. No. 207 from Tirupati also is of
date S. 1356, and does not make any reference
to the ruler. It is an agreement between the
stftnattar and the first among the Sri Vaishnavas
of Tirupati, namely, Kalikanridasa Alahappira-
nSr. The latter paid 4,000 gold pieces to the
temple treasury for a festival to be celebrated at
break of dawn during the six months of the
Dakshipayana (October — March). No. 208 is a
document too far gone. No. 209 relates to
S. 1368, and is a document in Kanarese. It
refers to the gift in charity by Teppada
Nagayya Nayaka, son of Muddayya Nayaka,
of 3,000 gold pieces. The amount has been
entrusted to the stanattar to arrange that this

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

service was rendered regularly. No. 210 comes
from the hill temple, and is of date £. 1368. It
is an agreement between the stanattar and
Periyamalladeva, son of Errakkampayadeva
Maharaja with the titles Medini-Mlsara-Ganda-
Kattari-Saluva. It relates to the payment of
1,000 gold pieces from the income of which a
food-service was to be rendered to the God for
all time. It was put on record by the temple
accountant as usual. Record No. 211 refers to
the £. year 1364, and is an agreement between
the stanattar and one Karunakaradasa a Sattada
Sri Vaishnava of Tirupati for food-service to
Govindarajapperumal in Lower Tirupati in the
name of this Dasa. He paid 100 gold pieces
from the income of which this was to be
conducted. No. 212 coming similarly from
Lower Tirupati is an agreement between the
stanattar and four people apparently Vaishnavas,
namely, 5lvar Mudaliyar, Ulahudaiyaperumal,
Tiru Anandalvar and Narayana Perumal. It is of
date 6. 1367 (13th December 1445). It makes
provision for festivals on certain days in the
names of the first two, and on certain other days
in the names of the next two, for which they paid
different sums, and stipulates the details of, how,
after food-service to the God, it was to be disposed
of. No. 213 is from the hill shrine and is of
date &. 1367 (15th December 1445). It is an

440

TIRUPATI UNDER VIJAYANAGAR

agreement between the stSnattSr and one Ananta-
sayana, son of Ramanujadasa, a member of the
TinicchanSr Sabha. It makes provison for some
kind of food-service for the flag-hoisting of the
seven festivals in the hill shrine, and two festivals
of the shrine in Lower Tirupati. The details
of the food-service are given as usual, and
the agreement had been put on record by the
temple accountant. No. 215 comes from Lower
Tirupati, and is of S. 1368 corresponding to 23rd
November 1446. It is an agreement between the
stanattar and a member of the Tirucchanur SabhS
whose name is given as Vadamamalaidasar
Alahar Appillai Tiruvanandalvar Periya Perumal.
It is a provision again for some kind of food-
service on the nine flag-hoisting festivals as in
the previous document. No. 216 similarly comes
from Lower Tirupati and is of date £. 1368
corresponding to 14th November 1446. It is
again an agreement between the stanattar and
Alahiya Perumal, son of Ramanujadasa, a
member of the Tirucchanur Sabhft. This records
a payment of 200 gold pieces into the temple
treasury, and makes provision for a food-service
during the 30 days of the month of Mnrga{i
(December — January) of the year.

RECORDS OP THE REIGN OP MALLIK AB JUN A

DEVARAYAi The inscription No. 217, is outside
the temple on a slab at the end of the Sannidhi

441

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

Street in Lower Tirupati. It refers to the reign
of Virapratapa Mallikarjuna Devaray a, and is
dated $. 1871 corresponding to 4th March 1450.
It is an agreement between two £ri Vaishgava
Brahmans of Tirupati, Alvar Mudaliyar and
Ulahucjaiyaperumal Mudaliyar for the sale of a
house in the hill-town of Tirupati, belonging to
Tirukkudavfir-nadu to a resident of Chandragiri
in Yaikunthavala-nadu, a Niyogi by name
Lasamalikam Chennappa Udaiyar. The neit
one, No. 218 comes from the hill shrine and is
of date £. 1372 (31st August 1450), and does not
refer to the ruler. It is a record of an agreement
between the stanattar and Sirumallaiyadeva ,
son of Malagangayyadeva Maharaja with the
titles MahamandaleSvara Medini-Mlsara-Ganda-
Kattari Sftluva. He paid 1,200 gold pieces into
the treasury for a daily food-service in his name.
No. 219 from the hill shrine refers to a date
£. 1367, although the latter part of the date
is gone, corresponding to 13th December 1445.
This is an agreement between the stanattftr as
usual and one Emberumanar Jlyar for two food-
services in his name for which he paid 2,000
gold pieces into the temple treasury. The
detailed provision for this service is recorded.
The interesting point in this record is that this
Emberumanar Jiyar is said to be the owner or
resident of the flower-garden Pankayachelvi on

442

fIRUPATI VNVtiR V1JAYANAQAR

the hill, and he is also described as one who
supervised the affairs of the temple (Koil Kelvf)^
thus giving us indication of one of the items
arranged for in connection with Ramanuja's
organisation. No. 220 is also from the hill-shrine
and is of date 6. 1367 (17th February 1446). This
is an agreement between the Jiyar and the
st5nattar, and provides for food-service in the
name of the Jiyar on the nine flag-hoisting
festivals, seven in the hill shrine and two in
Lower Tirupati, and two other festivals, one on
the hill, a flower-service (pushpayagci), and on
the day of the concluding festival of Govindaraja.
He paid 1,000 gold pieces into the treasury.
Another detail of importance in this is .that,
on the day of the pushpayaga, the God and
His consorts come to the pavilion named
Malaikkimyaniiiraperumal and listen to the
recital of the Tiruvayoli, Nammalvar's portion
of the Prabhandha, and then the usual provision
for the distribution of food follows. After the
usual distribution of food the remaining part
was to be given over to the Jiyar who was. in
charge of the flower-garden, Pankayachelvi, and
the Ma^ha should receive it. The Jiyars .are
described as Ekaki, that is, single Vaishnavas.
They must be unmarried men and should be
entitled to receive this part of the food in
succession. No. 221 also from; the hill shrine is

443

&STORY Of TIRUPATI

I similar provision for certain other festivals
along with the nine flag-hoisting ceremonies. The
provision is 1,000 gold pieces and the details of
distribution of service, etc., are the same as
before. It is of date 6. 1368 (27th January 1446).
No. 222 from Tirupati is a similar provision. It
is only the name of the year that is given
corresponding to 17th July 1447. In addition to
the usual nine festivals, certain other festivals
are included* No. 223 is from Lower Tirupati
and refers to date £. 1378, (21st February 1457).
It is an agreement between the stSnattar and the
Emberumanar Jiyar, who paid 5,000 gold pieces
for certain daily services to the temple of
Govindaraja in the temple. But the interesting
point of the document is that the 5,000 gold
pieces made over to the treasury, should be
applied to the digging of the tank in the
temple village of Aviiali, and, from the income
derived therefrom, the provision for the service
should be made. Similar provision for distri-
bution of food is made as in previous cases.
No. 224 is a particularly interesting document
throwing light upon certain important matters of
internal administration. It refers to the year
£. 1872 (1450-51). It was provision made by
a certain Channakesavadasa for taking out a
canal from the boundary of Bain<Japalli to the
village Sittakkuttai, and taking out a canal from

444

flRUPATl UNDER VIJAYANAQAR

that of a different character, perhaps from
percolated water called Ka$akkal to the tank at
Avilali wherefrom water should be carried to
cultivate lands that had not been brought into
cultivation in the Sittakuttai village. The
Baiiujapalli people objected that, if this irrigation
work should be carried out, their lands were
likely to suffer, and lands under cultivation
would go out of cultivation. The matter there-
fore was taken to the notice of the officers
responsible, and an arrangement was made by
which the land was made over to the people
of Baindapalli, enjoining upon them the specific
purpose for which this project was made. They
are said to have made satisfactory arrangements
for carrying a canal through another part and
altogether in another way to serve the same
purpose successfully, but without detriment to
their own properties. The food provision that
was intended to be made to Vira Narasimhap-
perumal of Srinivasapuram was made successfully
in consequence. The food remaining after
distribution to those entitled to it, was to be
utilised for feeding those who were in residence
at the RSmamijaku{a of the village. No. 225 is
from the hill shrine of date 6. 1376 (7th July
1454). It is an agreement between the stSnatiSr
and Bamanujadasa, who was maintaining a
flower-garden at Papanasa. This Dasa paid into

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

the treasury 1,000 pieces of gold, and the
necessary arrangements were made for carrying
this out. The available food after distribution
was to be given to the Sri Vaishijavas who
were engaged in maintaining the flower-gardens.
No. 226 merely records this piece of charity in a
Sanskrit Sloka.

OTHER RECORDS OF THE PERIOD : No. 228 COmes

from the Parthasarathi shrine within the precincts
of the Govindarajasvami temple in Lower
Tirupati. It is of date S. 1308 which would mean
A. D. 24th March 1387. It is an agreement
between the etanattar and the head among the
Vaishnavas in Tirupati by name Kolli Kavali-
dasa, the first part of the name being one of the
titles of Kulasekhara Alvar. It is a daily food-
service for which he paid 1,000 gold pieces into
the treasury. The service was to be conducted
perpetually, and the part of the food given to
him should be continued to his descendents. As
usual, the record is set down in writing by the
temple accountant. The remaining seven or
eight records are too far gone and too imperfect
to make anything out of. It is only two or
threfe documents of Volume II that fall within
our period. The first has reference to !§. 1367
(13th December 1445). It is an agreement
between the stanattar and Devanna, son of Periya-
perumaldasa Arulaladasa of the Bharadvaja

446

TIEUPATI UNDER VIJAYANA&AR

gVtra. It is a provision for a food:service an the
nine flag-hoisting days as usual. The usual
provision was made therefor. The next one
No. 2 of Volume II is in the G5vindaraja shrine
in Lower Tirupati and is of date & 1376 (25th
August 1454). This is an agreement between the
stanattar with one Hariyappa of Chandragiri.
He is described as the son of a Gauranna, who
was a Rig-Vedin of the Dananjaya gotra in
Ssvalayana Sutra. He paid 3,000 gold pieces
into the treasury for provision for food-service,
to be used for feeding 12 Brahmans in Tirupati.
The 3,000 gold pieces were to be applied for
digging irrigation channels where the water
supplied comes from springs or percolation, and
the water should be made use of for purposes of
cultivation ; the income from this was to be
utilised for carrying out the terms of the pro-
vision. The next one from Lower Tirupati is of
date & 1379 (A. D. 1457) and is an agreement
between the stftnattar, and the temple accountant
Tiruninraiyurudaiyan. He paid 100 gold pieces
for a festival to be celebrated in his name by
taking God Govindaraja to a flower pavilion,
which he himself constructed on the bank of a
new tank £r!nivasaputteri. This work of charity
should be conducted by all his successors for
all time.

447

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI
THE FIRST CENTURY OP VIJAYANAGAR RULE IN

TiRUPATii We may take it roughly that we
have so far covered the first century of the
history of Vijayanagar, as far as it comes from
the records of Tirupati. We see that almost the
first record in Tirupati makes a reference to
Bukkaraya, although the reference is imperfect
and to a great extent the record is unintelligible.
But it certainly does relate to something that was
done in the name of Bukkaraya or in his honour.
The last record chronologically takes us to the
reign of Mallikarjuna and to the date A. D. 1457.
That is pretty well on in the reign of Mallikarjuna,
while he actually died in A. D. 1465, and was
succeeded by a brother by name Virupaksha
who is referred to by historians as Virupaksha III
of Vijayanagar. With this change the actual
character of Vijayanagar history changes in
many ways, more particularly in Tirupati. But
before proceeding to that question we may note
here that the region round Tirupati had been
under rulers who were subordinate to the empire,
but carried on the administration with a freedom
which would perhaps justify an inference that
the control exercised by the empire was not so
close. This need not necessarily be the case, as
we have already explained that the change in the
manner of dating, and therefore the omission very
often of any reference to the reigning monarch

448

TIRUPAT1 UNDBM

consequent thereon, need not be due to want of
control. The dates being given in the &aka era,
it does not necessarily involve introducing, as a
matter of necessity, the name of the ruler for the
time being, as in the case of inscriptions of the
period anterior to this, where they had neces-
sarily to mention the name of the ruling
sovereign, as the dates are marked in the year
of the reign of the monarch for the time being*
It is clear, however, that this region forming a
part of the empire had a distinct character of
its own. We see, among the names of royal
personages, those of Bukkaraya, the first of
the name ; his son Kumara Kampana, Devaraya II
and Mallikarjuna figure, though indirectly, the
indirectness being due to the manner of dating, as
explained above. The names of these monarcha
figure because the benefactions made to the
temple in each case happens to be in honour of
the sovereign or prince concerned. As in the
period preceding, the temple management had
remained altogether autonomous, and under the
control of the £ri Vaish^avas of the locality.
The features of temple organisation show this
more clearly, and a number of details appear in
respect of it which seem quite reminiscent of the
various items of organisation that Ramanuja is
said to have actually carried out in the place.
This is made certain by references to a certain

44»
57

HISTORY OF TIRUPAT1

number of festivals which were all his introduc-
tion. One particular feature to be noticed is
that while, on the basis of Ramanuja's arrange-
ment, almost the whole of the Prabandha seems
to have been recited on festival days, a special
provision was made for the chanting of some of
these, such as the Tiruppavai. There has so far
been no reference to the chanting of the Veda in
front of the God, either in the shrine itself, or
when the image of God is taken out in proces-
sions, or, as the record words it, that "while
Tiruvengadamudaiyan had all other attributes
of greatness, the chanting of the Veda was the
one item wanting." We find provision made here
for the recital of the Veda (veda-pHrclyana as
it is called), and that happens to be done by the
most prominent Vaishnavas of the locality bring-
ing it to the notice of Devanna Udaiyar who set
apart some of the royal revenue, one half the
revenue of £ittakkuttai for the purpose ; but, as
suggested by Kalikanridasar Alagappiranar,
under the name of and in honour of the sovereign
Devaraya II, Devaraya Maharaya, as he is called
in the record. There are a large number of
benefactions to the temple, several of them from
officers of importance, while some of them are
from people associated with the management of
the temple such as the heads of some of the
Mafias in the gardens round the temple, where

4*0

TIRUPATI UNDER VUAYAtfAGAtt

resided the bachelors or Sanyteins, who had the
management of the various institutions attached
to the temple. One noticeable feature of these
benefactions is that while the smaller of them
are of the ordinary character, the larger
benefactions take on the character of investments
of money being made for irrigation and other
facilities for the lands already under cultivation,
or bringing uncultivated lands into cultivation,
and making the income therefrom serve the
purpose of the benefactions. This gives clear
indication of a double purpose ; the acquisition
of the religious merit of a benefaction in a holy
place, and making this benefaction serve at the
same time the secular useful piirpose of benefit-
ting those who lived upon the land by providing
them facilities, and really bringing more land
under cultivation. This would be immediately
for their benefit, so that what was intended
for the spiritual merit of the individual donor
proved of benefit not only to the God or the
temple, or the Brahmans dependent thereon,
but also served equally to benefit the other
communities concerned. Direct state control,
or of benefactions by the state as such, we have
not come upon so far, and even where royalty
and important officials made these benefactions,
they were intended for their personal spiritual
benefit, and therefore were provided for from

461

OF T1R&PAM

tmt of thfcit own funds rather than from the
funds of the state. The contributions therefore
of the state its such may so far be regarded as
fehftOst noil-existent, and the properties attaching
to the temple are entirely, at any rate, so far as
thitt shrine is concerned, the result of private
benefactions for the benefit of the temple
itself,

CHAPTER XVII.

TIRUPATI UNDER THE SALUVAS.

THE SALtrvAS, THEIR ORIGIN AND EARLY HISTORY.

In the inscriptions so far considered, we have
come upon rulers of Vijayanagar belonging to the
first dynasty, of whom the latest to be mentioned
is Mallikarjuna with dates going as far down as
A. D. 1457. Mallikarjuna died in A. D. 1465,
and was succeeded by Virupaksha, generally
taken to be his brother, which seems to be made
certain almost by the £r!sailam plates of this
ruler. His reign continued for twenty years
almost, and then came a change of dynasty,
when the new ruler, a member of the famous
Saluva family, called Saluva Narasinga, placed
himself on the throne of Vijayanagar. But long
before he became emperor, he had become so
influential in the state that the whole period
since A. D. 1450 may be regarded as, in a way
peculiarly, connected with him ; the more so in
the region of Tirupati, because this family was
early associated with this region with their
headquarters at Chandragiri. In dealing with
the period therefore following the year A. D. 1467,
we find that tke inscriptions in Tinipati seem $6

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

fefer more or less entirely to members of this
family and their benefactions to the shrines.
This is rightly so, for two valid reasons. The
first of them naturally is because that the
Saluvas, who played a distinguished part in the
very foundation of the empire, were allotted this
region for their government. We mentioned
already an inscription of Saluva Mangu, record-
ing his benefaction to the temple of the covering
of the roof of the Vimanama^apa with gold and
the mounting of a pinnacle on the top of it, in
obvious imitation almost of what had been done
by other rulers before in temples like Srlrangam
and Chidambaram. Mangideva was one of the
generals who played a distinguished part in
the campaigns of Kumara Kampana, the son
of Bukkaraya I. The principal achievements
that he claims are the defeat and re-establish-
ment of Sarnbuvaraya, and the defeat of the
Muhammad a n Sultan of Madura, achievements
both of them ascribed generally to Kumara
Kampana, the prince in chief command of this
expedition. So the Saluva family comes into fame
almost at the beginning of Vijayanagar history ;
but even so, it is not clear why they should be
associated with this particular region as we find
them already there. In the period anterior to
this, families connected with the government of
this region were certainly many; but none of

454

TIRUPAT1 UNDER THE 8ALUVA8

them seems to be associated with the Saluvas.
We have heard of the Telugu ChSlas in the loca-
lity, of the Telugu Pallavae, of the Yadavarayas
related to the Chalukya family. But anything
like a Saluva family had not been heard of. In
fact the family name Saluva, for this dynasty,
was one of comparatively recent acquisition. In
fact it was acquired by Mangi by his own
achievements, and therefore we cannot well expect
this name to occur in previous records. But even
so, there is nothing obviously to connect them
with any of those families except astray reference
in which among the titles of the early rulers of
this family, occurs the title Chalukya Narayana.
This title is given to an ancestor of the family
by name Guijida, who is said to have killed in
battle * the Sultan who had got ready for the
conquest of the world', and he is said to have
been in residence in his capital Kalyanapura, the
name by which Kalyani in the Nizam's Domi-
nions, the capital of the later Chalukyas, is
generally known. On the basis of these stray
facts we may perhaps surmise that they were
members of the Chalukya family like the
Yadavarayas, and became early associated with
this locality. If the associations of this family
with Kalyani should be correct, it may be that
that was their original place, and they must have
moved from there, because of the conquest of the

SfSTQRY OF

Dakhan by the Muharowadans, and the founda-
tion of the Bahmani kingdom. Whatever it is,
they seem to have been members of the Chalukya
family who migrated southward a, and early
settled in the region round Tirupati with perhaps
their headquarters at Chandragiri, which, at that
time, was probably unoccupied country requiring
to be brought into civilisation by various acts of
reclamation, which we shall find prominently to
be a feature of even the various grants made in
this period to the temple itself. A long genealogy
is given of this family in the work SaluoSbhyu-
dhayam, which has come down to us in a single
manuscript, a poetical work celebrating the
exploits of Saluva Narasimha written by the
court poet Rajanatha Dindima. There is another
work ascribed to Narasimha himself; but seems
to be more or less a work of this Rajanatha
Dindima called RamSbhyudhaya which is a KSoya
written relating the story of the Ramayaga.
The first name of any historical importance even
in this is that of a Mangi or Mangideva who
played an important part, as was stated above, in
Kampala's southern invasion. Mangi had one
son, among many, by name Gautama or Grauta,
one of six sons; but of whom we know very
little. Thia Gauta had four sons, of whom the
first wat Ghuj4a, the third of the name in the
family, who had two sons, Timma the elder, and

TI1KUPATI UNDER THE SALUVAS

Narasimha, better known as Saljiva Narasittga.
He had another son by name Tippa, who had
married a sister of the great Devaraya II himself,
whose son Gopa proved to be a distinguished
ruler about the time when Saluva Narasimha was
rising into importance. Gopa had two sons?
Timma 'or TirumalaidSva, and Tippa or
Tripurantaka, both of whom were governors in
the southern provinces of the empire. Narasimha
had two sons both of them very young, and
of whom we shall have to speak later on.
There was another brother by name Saluva who
had a son Parvataraja, whose name also appears
in the inscriptions as governor. This is the
distinguished family, which, from the surname
or title Mangideva acquired, has got to be
described the Saluvas more or less as the name
of the family.

VIRUPAKSHA'S MISRULE THE OPPORTUNITY FOR

SALUVA NARASIMHA i The advent of the Saluvas
to power coincided with a period of new trouble
and confusion in the history of Vijayanagar,
and this it is that provided an opportunity for
the rise of Saluva Narasimha to supreme power
as we shall see. It is the prominent position
that they occupied among the feudatories of
the empire that gave them the title Saluva,
which became the name of the family or the
dynasty, as we have already seen. They were

46T

HISTORY OF TIRUPAT1

content to be the feudatories of Vtjayanagar
from the date of its foundation to the death
of Mallikarjuna without any trouble. The death
of Mallikarjuna seems to have introduced a
certain amount of disturbance, which seems to
have been caused more or less by an act of
usurpation by his younger brother, who followed
Mallikarjnna in A. D. 1465. He had to set
aside two boys, sons of his brother, and, in
bringing this about permanently in the interests
of his own children, he seems to have perpet-
rated a massacre of the members of the royal
family, and made himself unpopular even other-
wise. It is this that ultimately brought about
the usurpation of Saluva Narasimha. The suc-
cession of rulers of this first dynasty may be
set down as below, taking only the names of
those that ruled : —

Harihara I A. D. 1336—1355.
Bukka A. D. 1355-1377.
Harihara II A, D. 1377- 1404.
Bukka II A. D. 1404—1406.
Devaraya I A. D. 1406—1422.
Vijaya Bhfipati A. D. 1422.
Devaraya II A. D. 1422—1449.
Mallikarjuna A. D. 1449—1465.
Virupaksha A. D. 1465—1485.

The foundation of Vijayanagar was followed
soon by the establishment of the Muhammadan

468

flRtJPATI UtTDBR THE 8ALUVA&

Bahmani kingdom in the Dakhan, and, from the
circumstances of its very foundation, it became
more or less a matter of necessity for the rulers
of Vijayanagar to guard the northern frontier
against the aggressions of this new power.
That was more or less the preoccupation of the
rulers of Vijayanagar under the first dynasty,
nay almost throughout its whole period
of existence. The first rulers, Bukka and
Harihara, and those associated with them had,
of course, to carry on campaigns elsewhere also
to bring about the establishment of this new
power. Once that was done, and the fact was
more or less recognised with the accession of
Harihara II, their whole attention had to be
paid to the northern frontier. Invasions were
usual, and Vijayanagar had to be constantly on
the defensive. This became so regular and so
irritating a feature that the great Devaraya II
carried out a regular reorganisation of the forces
of Vijayanagar in such a way as not merely to
keep back the aggressions of the Muhammadans,
but even turn the tables upon them by carrying
an invasion or two successfully against them, so
that, by the time that the reign of Devaraya II
came to an end, the power of Vijayanagar had
become well-established, and even their Bahmani
neighbour showed an inclination to respect it

461

HISTORY OF TIRUPATX

THE ADVANCE OP ORISSA DOWN THE COAST
DISTRICTS i THE OPPORTUNITY FOR SALUVA

NA&ASiMHAt Just at the moment, a new state in
the north was coming into existence in Orissa
under a new and vigorous ruler Kapilesvara.
The advent of this ruler coincided almost with
the accession of Mallikarjuna who had, almost
as the first act of his reign, to stand a siege in
Vijayanagar under the combined forces of the
Bahmani Sultans and the ruler of Orissa. He
managed to come out successful; but the
aggressions of the Orissa Hindus continued
nevertheless. They managed gradually to extend
their territory and take possession of the coast
districts of the Bahmani kingdom as far as the
Godavari river, and, placing themselves there,
they carried further aggressions southwards to
secure possession of some of the main fortresses
along the lower course of the Krishna, such as
Kon4apalli, Kondavidn, and places like that.
Prom there again, they advanced further south
into the territory of Vijayanagar, and at one
time were in possession of Udayagiri in the
Nellore District and carried their raids much
farther, and deep into the South Arcot District
as well. So the period of history with which we
are concerned was one which called for great
activity, along this coast region, to keep back
the aggressions of these Kalingas, or Orissa
rulers, within bounds. This position of affairs

460

TtRUPATI UNDER THE 8ALUVA8

would give to any ruler, placed in Chandragiri
and regions in the immediate neighbourhood,
the chance of distinguishing himself by loyal
service to the empire, and thereby becoming
powerful for good or for evil, and, if the
governor happened to be a talented man, he
could certainly turn all this to his own advantage.
While apparently serving the interests of the
empire after beating back the first combined
invasion, Mallikarjuna had to be constantly
active, and we have a record which states that
Mallikarjuna and his minister were somewhere
in the eastern borders of the empire attending to
the affairs of the territory under Narasinga.*
This gives clear indication that the anxiety of
the rulers was in respect of this activity of the
Orissa rulers. That was the opportunity, for
Saluva Narasinga and he used this opportunity
to purpose.

THE COURSE OF SALUVA NARASIMHA'S RISE TO

POWER i The Saluvas beginning with Saluva
Mangu were associated with the region round
Tirupati, and their capital is clearly stated to
have been Chandragiri. For all historical
purposes, it was the Chandragiri province that
fell to the government of these rulers, however
actually it came about. It might be that the

* E. C. HI Nos. W, 59. Sewell's Hist. Ins.
under date 1459.

461

Of TIRVPATt

Bahivas were somehow related to the rulers
of the locality that preceded them, say, for a
possibility, the YSdavaraya* ; or it may be, that
they came newly into power in the region which
may be as the result of Vijayanagar coming into
authority over the region superseding the
previous rulers. There is nothing so far that
gives us a clear indication as to how exactly they
came to be there. Saluva Mangu and Gropanarya
are stated to be the ruler and the minister of
Naraya^avaram in the Kdvil Oluhu (the history
of temple organisation at Srirangam). That
certainly would take in the territory under the
To^damans of old, and, if they became ulti-
mately rulers of Ohandragirirajyam, it would be
nothing unnatural. Of course during the period
of activity of Saluva Mangu and his successors,
it would have been a governorship, the governors
of which bore their part and shared the responsi-
bility iu the conquests which culminated in the
establishment of the empire of Vijayanagar. Of
course, so much is made clear even in the one
record that has come down to us of Saluva
Mangu from Tirupati itself. But as we advance
in Vijayanagar history, we find the province
continuing its normal course till the end of the
reign of DSvaraya II. It is the death of this great
monarch, and almost the simultaneous rise of a
new dynasty in Orissa, that altered the political

40ft

TIRUPATt UNDER THE 8ALUVA8

situation. Till then it was only the activity of the
Bahmani Sultans that had to be provided against
efficiently, and that was done more specifically
under Devaraya II. It is DSvaray af s military equip*
ment and the improvement in the military
efficiency of Vijayanagar that made the Bahmanis
feel the need of an alliance, just when Kapile£vara
of Orissa had satisfactorily established himself,
and was quite inclined to pursue a policy of
aggression on Vijayanagar territory. Devaraya's
reign would not be suitable for any attacks on
the empire with impunity, and it seems likely
that his death might cause disturbances in
Vijayanagar endangering the succession of the
prince, although we do not know positively of
any such disturbance having taken place. But
the succession of a young ruler like Mallikarjuna
was the opportunity for the united enemies, the
rulers of the Bahmani kingdom and the new
ruler of Orissa. So in A, D. 1450 we are told of
an attack upon the empire of Vijayanagar,
Mallikarjuna having had to stand a siege in the
capital itself. He managed for the time to beat
back the enemy. But that only gave indication
of the actual danger in the northern frontier.
The rulers of Vijayanagar therefore had to
provide efficient defences against the aggressions
from the coast side on behalf of Orissa even more
urgently than aggressions from the Bahmani

4«8

HISTORY OF TIRUPATl

kingdom itself. It is this that gave the opportu-
nity for a talented governor of Chandragiri to
make for himself a position many ways unique
among those of the governors of the empire.
Saluva Gunda himself has had to bear a part.
Either while he was yet alive or subsequently,
the activities of Orissa became real, and then
advanced into the territory of Vijayanagar on
the eastern side rapidly from step to step till
they could occupy a considerable part of the
coast districts on the east and go forward against
Kondavidu, Udayagiri, and further down into
the districts of the Tamil country. It is this
activity of Orissa that caused anxiety and
brought about the emperor Mallikarjuna and his
minister going towards this frontier with a view
to organise the defences of the kingdom. Saluva
Narasimha placing himself across the way of this
advance of the Orissa rulers was able to use his
position gradually and effectively against this.
Marching from place to place, and pressing
back the enemy back from one place after
another, he managed to drive the enemy from
the territories immediately dependent upon him
in ti^e region south of this Nellore District, and
then over Udayagiri Fort and places dependent
upon it. That done he could put the southern
border; in some safety, and march northwards to
be on the watch both against the king of

TIRUPAT1 UNDER THE SALUVAS

and against the Bahmani Sultans.. These latter
were occupied for some time with their own
internal difficulties, and, with the accession of
Muhammad Shah III, they were in some position
of safety in their own territory to think of
an aggression eastwards. When therefore in
A. D. 1483 — 84, Muhammad Shah advanced
towards Rajahmundry and encamped himself on
the hanks of the Godavari, he found Salnva
Narasimha in power there with a large army
well posted. This indicates to ns clearly how it
was that Narasimha was able to build a peculiar
position for himself, by rendering valuable
services to the state as against its enemies.

EMPEROR VIRUPAKSHA'S ACTS STIMULATED
NARASIMHA'S COURSE TO POWER i In the latest

stages of the operations connected with this
move, Vijayanagar was under the rule, not of
Mallikarjona, but of a brother of his, who might
perhaps be regarded as having usurped the
throne of Vijayanagar if not to begin with, at
least soon after, and made himself unpopular as
a consequence. Virupaksha, brother of Mallikar-
juna became ruler about the end of the year
A. D. 1465, following the death of Mallikarjuna
somewhat earlier in the year, and thereafter
Salnva Narasimha conducted himself as if he
were independent of the headquarters, although
there is nothing done openly or formally to

465
59

HISTORY OF T1RUPATI

assert this independence. In the years immediate-
ly following we find Narasimha himself, or his
generals, active, all over this region and in the
southern districts next across. The names of
Isvara, and his son Narasa, of Araviti Bukka and
even Nag a ma Nayaka, figure in the transactions
of the period, so that about the time that Saluva
Narasimha had to fight against Muhammad
Shah III, he had gradually brought under his
control, all the territory extending from
Rajahmundry southwards well into the South
Arcot District and further stretching westwards
deep into Mysore as far as Srirangapatam
itself. His authority and influence would be
nothing objectionable so long as he conducted
himself as a valiant and powerful governor
under the empire. That is almost the position
that he maintained, although the emperor does
not appear to have attempted to exercise much
control, or Saluva Narasimha to submit himself
to such. Virupaksha's administration, apart
from the initial difficulties of the situation, did
not improve with years ; much rather it seems
to have grown from bad to worse, and, from
all the information that we have, it would appear
as though Virupaksha's mismanagement went all
round to make his own position really difficult.
His unpopular and incompetent rule showed itself
even on the west coast where the , Portuguese

466

T1RVPAT1 UNDER THE SALUVAS

speak of his perpetrating a massacre of the
Muhammadan horse traders in Honovar (Onore).
and throwing them into hostility to them. In
this condition of affaire, Virupaksha seems to
have made an effort to set aside his nephews, and
secure the succession to his own sons, which
brought about dissatisfaction in the empire, and
provided a splendid occasion for Narasimha's
usurpation. The position of the empire was such
that it required a watchful and capable ruler to
keep the empire intact. Emperor Virupaksha
was not the kind of ruler, and his acts only made
matters worse. When the moment arrived,
Narasimha was able to set aside the unpopular
princes, the successors of Virupaksha and occupy
the throne himself as offering the best guarantee
for the successful maintenance of the integrity of
the empire. It would be clear from this that from
A. D. 1450 to A. D. 1485, Saluva Narasimha was
left more or less to himself, governing the
provinces under his control and extending his
authority gradually to become really the most
powerful man in the empire. We shall now
proceed to the inscriptions of this period in the
temple of Tirupati, and see how far this position
of his is reflected in his records there, and what
he actually was able to do for the temple itself.

467
End of Volume I.

INDEX

Xchuryas, age of the Vaishnava,
257,287

Adikan, AdiyamSn chieftain, 23.

Xditya I, crushed AparSjita, 215;
built 300 shrines to Siva, 383;
conquest of Ton4aman4alam by,
228-29 ; brought Toi^amangalam
under the authority of the Ch51as,
235.

Xditya II, Karikala, KS-PSrthiven-
dravarman, a designation of his,
231-32.

Xdityavarman, 215 ; of Taga<Jflr 28.
Adhlkllri, an officer, 243.
AhananZru, 9, 10, 17.

Ahobalam (Singavelkunram) 3. 173,
259.

AhSbalaraya, 372.
Xkafaganga 303, 304.

XkaiVRaja, 41, 42, 43, 44; father-
in-law of God VenkajSia, 296.

Akkan KZnikkai, 352.
Alagiya PerumaJ, 441.

AlahappirHn} a pavilion, at Tiru-
pati, 427.

AJahappiranar, father of Kajikanri-
dSsa, 428 ; son of Tim Kalikanri-
dlsa, responsibility of, for the
institution of Vlda P&rUyanam at
the temple at Tirapati, 434* fif.

AlamSlumanga1 shrine, same as
Ilangovil, 327.

XjavandSr, same as YSmunacharya,
262, 264, 294, 295, 437.

Xlavandar, great grandfather of
RSmanuja, 27.

X^avandar, Yamunaitturaivar or
YSmunSchSrya, grandson and
successor of NVdamuni, 260 ff.

Allaud-din-Khilji, 361, 395, 403,
404, 406, 412.

Allum TirukkalattideVa, same aY
MadhurJntaka Pottappi, Tiruk-
kflattid^va, 328.

XivSr MudaliySr, 440, 442.

Xlvars, community of religious
feeling of, 82-83 ; forms of wor-
ship among, 83-86 ; XjvSr Tiru-
mangi, 259.

AmarSvati, the capital of the

Xndhras, 210.

AmBghavarsha I (Rashtraktlta) 214.
AnandSJvSn, 291, 373.

AnandSlvar a disciple of Ramanuja,
262, 278; appointed guardian
adviser of the temple, 388, 389.

i Anantarya, 292, 294, 302, 306, 307,
1 308 ; set up the image of Yamuna-
chSrya, 304-05; had a sor.
RamSnuja, 305 ; set up an image
of Ramanuja and instituted a
I festival, 308-09; two miracles
to by God Srinivasa, 298-300;
author of Wnkaftchala ItihSsa.-
m&/a, 262 ; appointed to manage
the Tirupati temple, 267, 278,
made the adviser of YSdavaraja;
268.

Anantasayana, son -of RamSnuja-
dasa, 441.

Aparajita, dissensions among the
Pallavas after the time of, 228.

AparSjata Pallava, 188; crushed

by Xditya I, 215.
Arangan, 69.
Archa, 154.

Ari?3nalayam, a flower-garden, 429.
Arupkki, a ChCJa officer, 240.
Aruvar-anayak5vil PiUai, 327.
AUftpuvakaram, 81.
AubalarSya, 372.

'Avanisimha PSttarSja' (Simha-
vishnu), 214.

469

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

AvulSH, same as Avilali, 374.

Awai,38.

Ayiri, river, same as Hagari, 10, 11.

Ayyavarman (Harivarman), 113.

ittandavimnna, tower over the
sanctum of the temple, repairs
to, 433.

Xngal, a foster- daughter of Periya
XlvSr, 156, 168; an account of,
161-66 ; TiruppZvai of, Orga-
nised by RSmSnuia, 339-40;
shrine of GoVindarSja, 349.

Xndhras, the, 222, 223 ; account of
209ft

Bachelor Superintendent, appoint*
ed to be in charge of the temple,
306-07.

Ba-dami, 214, 216.

Bahau-d-din Gushtasp, account of,

408.

Bain4apaltf, 444, 445.
Balabhadra (Balarama), 192.
Baladeva, 194, 195, 198.
Balarama (Balabhadra), 192.
B&asubrahmanya, 116.
Bali, 93.

BalPla, 366, 367.

BaUaJadeVa, 352 ; tax levied by, 366.
BIna Chiefs, 213.
BZnas, the, 222, 223.
Bappa, 213.

B5pu NJyakar PemmlnSyakar, 372.
Belflr, 412, 413.
Bhagavadglta, 84.
BhaktSngrirSnu, a name of Tonflar-

a4ipo# Xlvar, 156.

Bhaktisara, a name of Tirumalisai,
100.

BhSratavtHbH, written by PerundS-
vanSr, ifc, 186«, 209, 380.

Bhlrgava, father of Tirumalisai,

BMkktft-Tappnva KUyara
a Vijayanagar title, 426.

\ Bhimavarman, 215.

Bhujabala Siddharasa, same as
RSjamalla YSdavarfya, 285.

Bhtttam XlvVr, 53, 100, 177 ; account
of, 69-75.

BhQtattu XlvSr, 32.
Bissanua D8var3ya, 432.

Bl^idSva (Kannada form of Vishnu*

dtva) 271, 272, 273, 276.
Brindavanam, 164.

British Museum Plates of Chftru-
dfvi, 218.

Buddhyankura, a name of Vijaya-
buddhavarman, 218.

Buddhavarman, 213, 215.
Buddhavarman II, 213.
I Buddhism, 86.

Bukka 1, same as Bukkarfiya, 393,
423, 424, 425, 458, 459.

I Bukka II, 458.

Bukkaraya I (same as Bakka I) 393,
422, 423, 448, 449, 454.

Chaitanya, 144.

Clrityukyas of BSdami, contempo-
rary of the Pallavas, 215, 217 ;
expansion of the power of, 222 ;
relations of the, with the Cholas,
251-55; and Bi(tideva, 272;
ChQukya Family, the, and the
Yadavarayas, 455-56.

ChSlukySs, Eastern, establishment
of the Kingdom of, 224, 315;
Kuffittunga, a Prince of the
dynasty of, 644 ; titles of, 245-46 ;
and the ChBiat, 252-55 ; Eastern
and Western, 317; the Western,
253.

1 ChVlukya NSrayaga, a title of
Gun^a, 455.

1 Chanfadanja, 213.
Chan<J31as, allowed to go and offer
worship to the footmarks of
Srlnivlsa under the tamarind
tree, 301.

470

Ckanftya-tlrtha, a tank, 301.

Chandragiri, 208, 430, 431, 433, 443,
456, 461, 464; and the early
S&luvas, 453.

Chandaragiri Mai lanna, (See Mai-
lanna), 433.

Channaktfavadl&a, 444. \

ChSrudEvi, a Pallava Queen, 189,
206, 213 ; British Museum Plates
of, 218.

Chidambaram (Chitrakn», 105,
169, 177, 362, 392, 398, 405, 454;
GSvindaraja of, 293; Govindaraja
idol removed from, 326; GoVinda-
raja idol in the great temple at,
cast into the sea, 262, 266, 267,
270.

Chitrakttta, (Chidambaram), 169.

Chittoor, 202.

Cho'las, rise and expansion of the
power of, 225 ff; actual feuda-
tories of, 316 ff; the imperial,
relations of, with the Hoy&las,
256-57; rule, of the, 206, 207,
208; power of, -.gone out of
existence, 358.

ChSJa ChSlukya relations, 252-55;
wars between, 316. .

Conjeevaram, 209, 219, 221, 278. |
Cuddalore (KTl^al) 317; capital of
the KS4avas, 330, 335.

Danti Vikramavarman, 18t.
Dalaratha, 169.

DeVagiri, capital of Die Ylflaras,
861, 399, 408, 406,

DeVanna, son of Periyaperumtldasa
AruTOadSsa, 446.

Devagga U4aiyaj, 434, 438 439.
DeVaprayaga, 159.
DeVarasa, 433.
DeVa R5ya 1, 458.

Deva Raya II, 449, 450, 458, 459,
462, 463 ; inscriptions of, at Tim-
pati, 431, ff; institution of
y?ctap3rfyanat at Tirupati by,
431 ff; a sister of his married to
Tippa, 457.

Deva Raya MahSrSya, same as
Deva Raya II, 450.

D?vi Ammanar, the daughter of a
ChSraraan and the wife of ParSn-
taka II Sundara ChSia, 240.

Draksharama, 252.

Emberumanar, 340.
Emberumanar Jiyar, 442, 444.
EjrakampayyadSva MaharSja, 440.

Erumai, the Va^ukar Perumakan,
5, 10.

DalTlra, 218.

Dan4anVyaka, a title given to all
dignitaries of rank, 354.

DannSyakankftttai, 355, 416 ; chief-
taincy of, 402.

Dantidurga Vairamegha, founder of
the Rashtrakttta Empire, 177.

Dantip3ttara!ar, 220. ...

Dantivannaa, 189 ; inscriptions of,
220-21 ; Vijaya-Dantivikrama,
a name of, 221; .vanquished
RSshtrakBtA G&vinda III, 215;
Pallava, 234.

Dantivikramadeya, inscriptions of,
at TirucoblnVr, 229-30.

Ga^apati, K^katiya ruler, 385.
GanjagtpZlan Jlf&fai, gold, coins,

340.

Gan4ag5palas, account of, 336 ff.
Gangaikon^a Ch8K 251, 252, m
Gangtikon<}a §51a Brahma MSrSvan,

of title a K5<Jinambi Ang5<Ji, 241.

GangarSja, VishnuvArdhan^s

general, captured Talakkld, 273.

Gangas, the, land .of, 222 ; frontiers
of, settled, 317.

G*ng«yas, 318. ...
Gauta, see Gautama, 456.

HISTORY OP TIRVPAT)

Gautama, (a son of Mangi) 456.

Ghatika. 233.

GhaftideVa, theYadavartyacontem-

porary of RSmSnujm, 282, 286,318;

help of, to RSmfcnuja 312-13;

account of, 319-21,
GhattidCva II, 322.
Ghiasu-d-din Tughlak, 408.
Ginji, 317.
GirideVappa, 431.
Gita, 118, 123, 131.
G5d5, a name of Xn<Jal, 161.
G<5pa, son of Tippa, 457.

Gopanarya, 420, 433, minister of
Sajuva Mangu, 462.

Gopinatha, identification of, 433
Gopinathayya, 432, 433.?
Govinda, 301.
Govindu III (Rashtrakflta), 215.

Govinda BhuJJa, Ramauuja's cousin,
280.

GovindarSja God, 177, 443, 484,
image of, set up at Lower Tiru*
pati at the instance of Ramanuja,
262, 266, 267, 270, 281-82, 292-94,
construction of the temple of,
320, 326 ; temple of, 302 344, 345,
347, 348, 349, 351, 370, 389, 447 j
shrine of Tirumangai Xjvar in,
327; and Vijaya Gancjagopala, 338.

Govindarajapperumal, shrine of,
429, 430, 440; Parthasarathi
shrine in, 446.

Govindavarman, 215.

Gunadhara, MahSndravacJi inscrip-
tion of, 219.

Gua^a, a son of Gautama, 456 ;

had the title ChSlukya NSrlyana,

455.
Gurshasp, see Bahau-d-din Gush*

tasp, 408.
Guruparamparas, 257, 259, 260, 262,

^4, 273, 275, 276, 280, 287, 381 ;

account contained in, compared

to that contained in VtHkafahala

IlihZsam&a, 269-273.

Halabig, 407, 408, 412, 413.
Hampi, the ruins of Vijayanagai

at, 253.

Honovar (Onore), 467.
Hanumakon4a, capital of the

Warangal Kingdom, 403.
Hanuman, 158 ; seal of, given to the

Bachelor Superintendent, 307.
HaraptladeV, 406.
Harihara I 424, 458, 459.
Harihara II, 429, 458, 459.
Harihararaya, (Harihara II), 429.
ffarir&ya (arirftya) vit>Zfa, a

Vijayanagai title, 426.
Harivarman (Ayyavarman), 213.
Hiranyavarman, tn. RShini, 215.
lioysalas, and the Ch5J[as, and the

Panflyas, 330 ff ; and the Yadava-
I ray as, 354 ff; rule of, and rela-
tions of, with Vira PSngya, 360 ;

expansion of the, in the South,

395 ff.

Ik$v3ku, 24.

IlaigkarPtrumakan, a name of
Pulli, 9-10.

Ilaiyar, 69.

Uamgiri, same as Tirumll Irum
g51ai, 69.

llango A<jigal 185, description of
V5nga(Jain by, 96 ff.

IlangSvil (AlamSlu-manga shrine),
327.

KSvil, same asTirumSl I/um
i, 69, 92.

Ilankoyil (V^nga^am) 229, 23 L

Ilam Kumaran, (Subrahmanya), 67,
93.

Ilam Kumarar K5m2n, 80, 94.

IlamTiraiyanof K3nchi,204; diffe-
rent from Tiraiyan, 17; identifi-
cation of, 20 ff; • institution of
festivals by, 21 ; (TontfamSn) not
the founder of the temple at
Tirupati, 205; the Pallava .rule
begins after, 207.

immadi Rlhutta RSyan, title of
Singayya DaitfanSyaka, 352, 353.

Indra, 191.

Isvara, a general of SSluva Nara-
simha, 466.

lyUrpU thousand, 171.

Jainism, 86.

Jalalu-d-din Xsan Shah, founded
the Muhammadan state at
Madura, 407 ff.

] at a v arm an KulaieTchara Pan4ya«

the last contemporary of Kulot-

unga 111, 329.
Jatavarman Sundara Pan4ya 1, 322,

344, 345 426; account of, 331 ff;

and the Cho>s 398 ; death of, 359.
Jatavarman Sundara Pan<Jya 11, 359.
Jayamkoitfa Chola Brahmamara-

yan, 325.
Jayamkon^atolapuram, same as

Mu^ikontjaiol.apuram, 359.

J5gimallavaram, 237, 241, 247.

Kacchi, 76.

Ksujava, feudatory of the Cho].as,

defeated by Jafcavarman Sundara

P3n4ya, 332.
Ka^van PerundeVi, a title of

SSmavvai, 232.

K34avas, disloyalty of, 330-331.
K4iyamr, 23.
KSkatiya rulers, 361.
Kalahasti, 3, 302, 217, 224, 230, 235,

249, 250, 279, 280, 379, 380, 386.

Kalavali Forty, 57.

Kalavar (Katvar) movement of the,

210-11,
KalikanfidSsa, 327 ; son of Alagap-

pir5n«r, 32^.'
KalikartTidliar AUgappiranar, 450.

Kall54anar, an author referring to
Tirupati, 9.

Kajvars, recovery from, 216.
Kalyanapura, the name of Kaly^ni,

KalySni, the capital of the 4ater
Chalukyas, 455.

Kampana, same as K u m a r a
Kampana 456.

Kampili, kingdom of, 408.
KSmavilli of Pttvainagar, 374.
Kamban, 138.

Kanakkayanar, father of Nakkirar,
11.

Kanchi, 20, 21, 22, 23, 26, 27, 28, 29,
31, 32, 33, 50, 62, 70, 76, 80, 81,

104, 105, 108, 134, 177, 185, 188,

105, 207, 209, 211, 212, 219, 222,
313, 332, 334, 335, 337, 380, 398;
headquarters of Ton4aman4alam,
202; capital of llam Tiraiyan,
17, 204; recaptured from the
Cholas from Yuvamaharaja Vish-
nugopa 11, 213.

Kanikannan, 32, 33 ; account of,
104 fT.'

Kanikkai, 351.
Kanaikkal Irumporai, 57.
Kannan, a name of Vishnu, 151.

Kannan, son of Ka^Iir Kilar, refers
to Venga4am as belonging to
Tiraiyan, 11.

Kannanu'r (Vikramapura) the old
Hoysala capital, 360, 397, 413,
415, 418; fortified by Hoysala
Narasimha II, 331,

Kannapuram, 182.

Kapila Tirtka, 297, 306, 336.

Kapiltsvara and Vijayanagar,
460 ff.

KZrTl{ar Karpakam, (The wish-
giving tree among the KfrS)ar),
Tirumangai Xivar, described as,
327.

Karikala and IJam Tiraiyan, dates
of, 27, 28, 48, 49, 51; brought
To$4aiman4alain under Ch^a
authority, 201.

Karikala Ch5J[a, founder of the line
of the Telugu Choias, 313.

478

titebottlr

Karunttaradasa, 440.

K attain*!, a YSdavarSya ruler, 321.

Kanaka, (KSpperunjinga) 335.

KSttfLr Kiflir, father of poet Kannan
11, 19.

Kaveri, 179.

Kavirippumpattinam, 25, 27, 49,
98, 195.

Kavundi Aijigal, 98.

KSsava SSmayaji of Sriperumbudtir, '
father of RSmSnuja, 261.

Ketayya Dantfanayaka, a son of
Madhava DanflanSyaka, 354,
355, 358 ; Prime Minister of Nara-
simha III, 401, 416.

Khusru, 406.

KilJi Valavan, identifiable with
Ne4V-Mu4i Killi, 24.

K5dai, a name of Xn^aJ, 161.

Ko^inambi Anga^i, 241.

Ko^ungalur (Cranganore) 236.

A'Mt KHvi, 443.

K51i (Uraiyttr) 167, 182.

Kolli (Quilon), 167 ; Kolli Kavali-

dasa, 327, 446.
KoUipakka, lord of, 318.

Kongapalli, conquered by KapilSs- '
vara, 460.

Kon^avidu, 464; conquered by
KapiW ivara, 460.

K^p3rthiv5ndravarman, a designa-
tion of the ChBla Prince Xditya II,
Karikala, 231-32* ,

K8-Perunjinga, (also written Kop-
perunjinga), a Pallava chieftain,
335, 395, 396, 398 ; contribution
of, to the decline of the Cho^a
authority, 315.

KS-Sengan, the Ch31a King, 181.
», organisation of, 201-2.

r, 113.

KSval (TirukkCvaltlr), 70.
K5valan, story of, 98r-9.
KSvalflr, 63.

KSvijaya Nandivikramavarman,

TantfantBftajn Plates of 219—20.
ADvil Olug*, 417, 462.
Krishna, 169, 386.
Krishna^ an avatar, 154.

Krishna Vishnu, an aspect of the
God at Tinipati, 191, 192, 193,
194, 195, 249 ; worship of 198 ft'.

Kubja Vishnuvardhana, an Eastern
ChSJukya ruler, 245.

KQ(Jalf (Madura), 161, 167, 182;
Pallava family of, 317.

Ku4andai, 76, 79, 93.
Kufrmtikkil, 70.

KulalSkhara XlvSr, 156, 327, 446 ;
account of, 166—70.

Kula&khara Perumaj, 166.
Kul5ttunga, 318, 386; death of 255.

KulSttunga I, a contemporary of
RamSnuja, 274, 280 ; invitation of,
to Raman uja, 385 ; his punish-
ment of KtirattSlvSn, 274-75;
wars with Chalukya VikramadeVa
VI, 316.

Kul^ttunga II, 314, 320 ; the son and
successor of Vikrama-ChSla, 284,
286; accession of, 287; Gha^i-
d£va, his feudatory, 285.

Kul5ttunga HI, 312, 314, 320, 321,
322, 323, 328, 329. 396 ; GhaftideVa
a feudatory of, 312 ; feudatories
of, become independent 256-57.

Wars of, with the P5n<}yas and
Ceylon, 323.

KulSttunga Ch51a, inscriptions of,
at Tirupati and account of,
244-255.

Kuftttunga Cho> II, 315, 316, 317.

KulSttunga Ch5jad8va, Tribhuvana-
Chakravartiga}, 342, 343, 344,
345.

Kultttvnga CMlan UI*> VS*.

KulSttungas^la YSdavarSya, a
title of GhaftidEva, 284.

Kumlra (Subrahnanya), 191, 192,
195.

474

IN&SX

KumSra Kampana, (UtfaiySr) 393,
3% 425, 426, 449 ; and the image
at jJrlrangam, 420, 421; Viceroy
of Mu)b?gal, 422 ; campaigns of,
454.

Kumaran, a name of BSlasubrah*
manya, 116.

KumlraTirumalai Nambi, an adopt-
ed son of Tirumalai Nambi, 304.

KumSra Vishnu I alias KSlabhartr,

213.

Kumar a Vishnu II, 213.
Kumbhak5nam,_125, 188, 258.

KundSni, a capital of the HoysSlas,
399.

Kuntajas, (the Western ChSJukyas),
253.

Kftram plates of Par ante's vara-
v arm a a I, 220.

Kfiratta^van, a disciple of Rama-
nuja, 385 ; punishment of, 274-75.

JCufum-togait 20.
Kurunilamannar^ 23, 203.

LSkSchSrya, 418.

Lasamalikam Chennappa U<jaiyur,
442.

Lower Tirupati, 440, 441, 442, 443,
446, 447.

MSdappan Sing ana NSyaka, 368.
MSdhava 1 (Ganga), 213.
Madhava Dan4anayaka, a son of

Perumala Dan4anayaka, 354, 413 ;

Prime Minister of Narasimha III,

401-02.
MSdhavadSsa, same as Mall anna,

432, 433.
MIdhavi, 98.
Madura* KUnji, 437.

MadhurSntaka Pottappi, Tiruk-
kalattid^va, 328.

Madhnra Kavi, 146, 170; a direct
disciple of NammlivSr, 259.

MadhurSntaki, daughter of RljSndra
Ch5|a, married to the Eastern
ChSlukya Ra>raja, 244-45.

Madura, 195, 196, 333, 362, 392, 405,
413, 415; Muhammadan Sultan-
ate of, 407 ff.

MahSbali, 78.

Mah^nSyaka Eframanchi Periya
Pammanayaka, 371.

Maharaja ^ri Vira R^ndra ChSta,
246.

MaharSjavI4i Seven Thousand, 224.
MahSndrapura, 219.

MahSfldravarman, 214 ; Vichitra-
chitta, a name of, 219 ; statue of,
in the Varaha cave at MahSbali-
puram, 208.

MahSndravarman I, 214.
MahSndravarman II, 214.

MalagangayyadeVa Maharaja, had
Sajuva titles, 442.

Malainacju, 236.

Malay amans (round TirukkoyiltXr),
317.

Malik Kafur, 361, 362, 363.

Mallanna, same as Madhavadasa,
432,*433.

MallSn4aiyar, 433.

Mallik Kafur, and the southern
kingdoms, 403 ff.

Mallikarjuna De*varaya, records of,
at Tirupati, 441 ff, 458, 460, 461,
463, 464, 465.

Mamalli, (MahSbalipuram), 69-70.

MamVlan3r, 133, 185, 377, 379 ; des-
cription of VSnga4&m (Tirupati),
by, 11, 14, 17; mention of the
celebration of festivals by, 205.

MamBlar, 18, 19, 20, 30.
i Man4agapattu, 219.
MSng^u, 186.
Mangi, same as MangidSva, 455, 456.

MangidSva, 456, 457 ; a general
. under Kumlra Kampana, 454.

MangidSva MahSrlja, 425.

475

&I8TORY OF TIRUPATI

Manimlkhalai, 24, 26, 49, 198.
Marai, 135.

Mfaavarman Kula&khara, PSg4ya,
the last great Paqflya, 358-59,
361 ; of Madura, and the Hoyialas,
399 ff; his son, Vira PSrtfya, 402,
405.

MSrsLvarman Sundara FSn4ya I, and
the Cholas, 329-30.

Maravannan Sundara PSn^ya 11, and
the Cho"las, 329-30 ; succeeded by
Jajavarman Sundara PSn^ya I,
331.

MarkaitfSya, 110.
MS-iattu-vanigan, 98.
MSyan, 118.
MaySn, 191.

Snluva, a SWuva title, 426, 442 ;
taken by Errakampayadeva
Maharaja, 440.

MelkSja, 419.

MSlkottai, foundation of the temple
at, 272, 275-77.

Mubarak 303; and the southern
kingdom, 406.

Muddaya Nayaka, father of Tep-
pada Nagayya Nayaka, 439.

Mu4ikon<Jasol.apuram same ' as
Jayamkon4asol.apurain, 359.

Muhammad-bin Tughlah, 367; and
the southern kingdoms, 406 flT;
and the Snrangam image, 417 fT.

Muhammad Shah, the Bahmani
ruler, 394.

Muhammad Shah 111, 465, 466.

Mullai TiruvSnga4a, Jiyar, 428,
429, 430.

Mukkantf K^uve^i, founder of the
dynasty of the Telugu ChSlas,
313.

Munayadarayan, a Ch31a official
title, 244.

Muruga (SSySn) 191.

MCv^ndav^Sn, an official title
under the Cho>8,'240.

Nacchinarkiniyar, 204-5.

NUcciylr TiiumoU of Xn45], fea-
tures of, 161-66, 292.

NSdamuni, XchSrya, 257, 260, 385 ;
visit of, to Tirupati, 269 ; one of
the assistants of Sajagopa yati to
be representative of, 308.

Nadan Kovil (Nandipura Vinnaga-
ram), 181.

NSgapattinam, 49 ; identification
of, 204-5.

N5ga Princess, mother of Ton^a-
mSn of V5figa<Jam, 204, 376.

NSgas, 25.

Nakkirar, son of KanakkayanSr, 11 ;
an author referring to Tirupati,
9, 10, 19, 30, 192, 194, 377, 379.

Nallamalais, hills, compared to a
cobra, 2-3.

1 Nammalvar, 87, !33, 156, 157, 165,
166, 168, 171, 258, 259, 260, 308,
336, 379, 443 ; his devotee gafa-
gopadasa, 327 ; his position
among the Xjviirs, 134, 155.

Nandipottarayar, obviously Nandi-
varman 111, victor at TeUSru, 221.

Nandipura Vinnagaram, 161.
Nandivarman I, 213.

Nandivarman II, 181; father of
Dantivarman, 221 ; won battles
against the Pangyas, 215.

Nandivarman Pallava, 176, 177 ;
marriage alliance of, with the
Rashtrakflfas, 226 ; built a tem-
ple at Conjeevaram, 209.

Nandivarman II Pallavamalla, 189 ;
constructed the Vaikunftia Peru-
jnH\ temple, 219; inscription of,
in the temple of XdivarSha at
Mahabalipuram, 219.

1 Nandivarman III (Nandivarman of
TeUaru), 186, 187.

' Nandivarman same as Nandi-
p5ttarayar, 221.

Nandivarman of TellS/u, a patron
of PerundevanSr, 209.

476

INDEX

Ntndivafmtn 111 *. dankkl, 215.
NIngai (TirunVngflr), 179.
Nfagttr, 179, 180.

NUnmukhan TiruvandAdiW, 102» ,
106,109ft, 110 if, 111*, 112*,
114 *, 119 M, 120.

Nlragadfcva, a feudatory of Vtra»
rSjfndra, 318.

Narasa, son of livara, 466.

Narasimha, son of Guntfa, same as
SSJuva Narasimha, 457.

Narasimha HoyfSla, 360.

Narasimha II, HoylSla ruler, help
of, to R3)arlja HI, 330-31; Hoy
fflas and the Cho>s, 395 ff.

Narasimha III, HoylSla, 354, 897,
401; ruled from Halabid and
BOTr, 399.

Narasimhavarman I, 214; beauti-
fied MahSbalipuram, 208-09.

Narasimhavarman II, 214.

NSrSyanachaturve'dimangalam, 348-
49.

NMyana Perumal, 440.

NlrSyana Pillai, who fell in the

battle of Uratti, 328.
NWyanapuram, 339.

NlrSyanavaram, 43, 203, 282, 376,
419, 422, 462; capital of the
YSdavariya, 266,

NatarSja, 293.

NayanSr Pillai V!ra Narasinga, 348.

Ne4um3ram of Ten*K^4al, 161.

Ne4u-Mu4i-Ki]U, same as KiUi
Valavan, 24.

Nell ore, called Vikramasimhapura,
348.

MtyatZri, 145.
Nir-Pey*rt*i 27.
Nrpatunga, 215.
Njrpafangavarman, 209, 221.
Nttl Kafal, 93.

59am, 114.

Op* V*lavu, 22, 44.

Onore (Honovar) 467.

Orissa and Vijayanagar, 460 ff.

PadmlvatI, marriage of, with
Venkaffla, 42, 296; Goddess, 300.

PaJa-VtrkSdu, modern Pull cat, 20.
Pallava family of Ktt^al, 317.

Pallavas of Kfnchi, 222, 223, 225,
313; coming into existence of,
211-12.

Pallavas, the, the early history of,
204 ff; genealogy, of, 21&-15 ;
the great, 188 ff ; inscriptions of
the, at Tirupati, 229 ; struggle of,
with the ChSlutcyas and the
P5nflyas, 224, 226-29 ; power of
the, overthrown by VijaySlaya,
235.

Pallavamalla, Nandivarman II, 189.

Pankayackclvi a flower garden,
442.

Paradavar, 16.

ParamSsvara PStavarman I, 214.

Parame"svaravannan I, KQram
plates of, 220.

ParamCsvara Potavarman II, 214.
Parantaka I, account of, 235-36.

ParSntaka H, 235, 346 ; married a
Ch3ra princess, 236.

ParSntakadeVi Amman, the Queen

of Patfntaka, 240.
ParSntaka Sundara ChSJa, father of

Rljaraja I, 240.

Paras DeVS DSlvi (ParasurSm D«v
Dalavoy). 403.

ParSlara, 237, 238,

ParalurSm DSv, DalavSy, a general
of th* YSdavas, 361, 403.

Pariptyal, 198, 198 », 199.
Parvataraja, a son

HISTORY OF TIBUPATI

i, 27, 901
> 23,
Pavftttiri, 204.

Pavittiri, Retfcjipalem in the
GttflBr taluk, 10, 16, 17, 20, 29, 45,
46.

PSngiyataraiyar, father-in-law of
VIra Narasinga, 348.

P5n4yas, the, and the ChSJas, 328 fT;
and the Pallavas, 214-17 ; power-
ful during the days of the YSda-
varSyas, 358-59; struggle of,
with the Pallavas, 226, 227;
dynasty of, revival of the power
of, 211 ; succession, of the, war
of, 320 ; change in, 359.

Pamjyataraiyan, father-in-law of
VIra NarasingadeVa YSdavartya,
324, 325, 326.

PSpanSla, 445.

PSrthasIrathi, shrine of, 446.
PSrthasSrathisva'mi, shrine of, 430.

PSrthivSndravarman, the son of
Parantaka II, 236.

Penukonija, 424.

Periya XlvSr, 156, 157, 158, 161,

166, 166, 168, 309, 383.
Pet iya 3fv3r Tirumott, 160, 161 »,

165 n, 166.
Periya Tirumajat, 171, 183.

Periya Tirumo£i, 137 *, 166, 167 *,
171-184; recited by Tirumalai
Nambi, 303.

Periya Tiruvandlldi, a work of
Nammajvar, 138, 143, 143 n.

Perumakan, a prince, 10.

Periyamallade'va, 440.

Perum*l Tirumoli, 166, 167 n.

Perumftla DaitfanSyaka, Prime
Minister of Narasimha II, 401;
a distinguished officer under
Narasimha III, 354, 355.

Perumakan, 5.

Peruman, a title of dignity, 5.

the Jand of the
s, 222, 242.

i, 23, 24, 25 n,
26, 47/49, 50,l*fi, 377.
Perum-Pnpt 27.

Pt rum-far am, a title of high rank,
426.

Perundaram, a Tamil title, 232.

PerundSvan, the author of the
Bharatam in vtnba verse, 8.

PerundSvanlr, 186 ; who wrote the
Bharata in Tamil, 8; patronised
by Nandivarman of Telpru, 209.

Peruvajanallttr, battle of, won by
Parame"svara P5tavarman, 214.

Plrgajai, same as Plrgga$ai> a
title of high rank, 426.

Plrgafai, a Kannada title, 232;
same as PSkkatJti, 426.

P8y Xjv3r, 53, 100, 108, 116, 134,
177 ; account of, 75, 81.

PillaiySr YBdavarSyar, same as
Vira NarasingadSva YSdavartya,
324.

Pinbajagiya Jlyar, 278.
Porul AdhikZram, 191, 191 n.

Pottappi ChSJas, same as the
Telupu ChSlas, 313, 318.

Poygai Xjvar, (Poygaiyar) 28, 31,
32, 34, 53, 56, 86, 90, 100, 116, 136,
149, 177; account of, 56-68;
devoted to Tirupati as a Vishnu
shrine, 71, 72.

Prabandha, 443 ; arrangements for
the recital of, 308-9.

Prabandha works, Tiruppivai, a
portion of the, 429.

Prabandha, Four Thousand, 52, 56,
136, 166.

Pulicat, same as PalavSrka'tfu, 20.
Pulikelin, 224.

Pulli, 29-30; a chieftain of the
region round V8nga<}am, 9, 10;
account of. by Mamftlanar, 11, 13,
16 ; conquest of the land of the
Majavar by, 18 ; change of terri-
tory from the hands of, 19 , 20.

Punganflr, 418.

478

INDEX

Quilon (Kolli), 167.

Pidnkkottai, State, 398, 414, 418. RImanltha, Hoylfla, 360.

RImlnuja, 133, 370, 373, 381, 382,
436, 437, 443 ; a son of Anan-
tlrya, 305.

RSmanuja 260, 261, 262; a nephew
of Tirumalai Nambi, 304;
studied the RHm&yana under
Tirumalai Nambi, 264-65, 270,
278, invited, by YSdavIrya,
came to Tirupati, decided that
the temple at the place was a
Vishnu one, 288, 290; got
installed the image ofGoVinda-
raja of Chidambaram at Lower
Tirupati, 265-67, 280-82; later
visits of, to Tirupati and organi-
sation of worship at, by, 267-68 ;
contemporaneous with Ghafti-
dSva YadavarSya, 282-86 ; be-
taking of, to Mysore, 270;
and Viftaladevara'ya, Viihnu-
deVa, BiflidSva or (Vishnu-
vardhana), 271-72, 275-77 ; Ch5Ja
contemporary of, 273-75 ; period
of the exile of, from Srirangam,
277-79; organisation of worship
at Tirupati by, 220-92 ; building
of the GoVindaraja temple at
Lower Tirupati by, 292-94;
restoration of two wells at Tiru*
pati by, for the temple water
supply, 294-95; attention of, to
the n&ga jewel, 295-96; provi-
sion of a Narasimha shrine within
the temple by, 296-98 ; order of,
relating to Anantarya, 300;
study of the Rlm&yana under
Tirumalai Nambi, and institution
of the foot-prints of God under
the tamarined tree, 300-301; ar-
range nent by, for the worship of
Rama and VarSha, 300-01; insti-
tution of a festival by, in
memory of Tirumalai Nambi,
302-4 ; regulations of, as to resi-
dence at Tirupati, 305-306, ap-
pointed a Bachelor-Superinten-
dent to be in charge of the tem-
ple, 306-07; final arrangements
of, at Tirupati, 307-11 ; organi-
sation of the temple of Tirupati
by, 449-50; and Tirupati, 382,
384, ff; caused the cJonitnwtion

Rlchayya DanflanSyaka, 351, 365.
RSjSdhiraja, 320.
RSja-dhirSja II, 314.
Rajahmundry, 465, 466.

Rajamalla YSdavaraya, son of
GhattidSva YSdavaraya, 285, 321.

Rajanatha Din<}ima, the court poet
of Sajuva Narasimha, 456.

RSjarSja, 190; policy of, 251-2;
feudatories of, become indepen-
dent, 256-7.

Rajaraja I, son of Parantaka Sun-
dara Chola, 240, 325; inscriptions
of, at Tirupati, 239-41,

Rajaraja II, 314, 317, 320.

Raja-raja III, 312, 314, 315, 321, 322,
324, 325, 327, 343, 344, 345, 346,
395, 396 ; and the decline of the
ChSla power, 328 ff.

KZjartjan #73, 178 ».

RSjasSkhara, a poet and critic of
the tenth century, 437.

RajSndra, beginning of a title, 249 ;
the Gangaikontfa Chola, 253, 254.

RSjSndra III, 314, 327, 331.

RajSndra ChSla, inscriptions of, at
Tirupati, 242-44.

RSjBndra Cho^a Brahma MarSyan,
a title of the lord of K^fir, 244.

RSje'ndracho>(sol)lama^alam, 247,
250.

RSJSndra KulBttunga, 247.

Rama, an Avatar, 154, 158, 160, 169;
arrangement for the worship of,
by RSmanuja, 301-2; image of,
given to the Bachelor Superin-
tendent, 307.

dyatnt 456.

479

&ISTORY Of

of the temple of G5vin4f tfja at
Tirupati, 326; image of, set up by
Anaafttya, 900-09; organised
the recital of the TintppHvai of
Jtyjal, 389-40; help given to, by
Ghaflideva 330-21; last date of,
312.

fandZdi (the centum
on RamSnuja), 308.

Ramanu jadlsa, 441, 445.
RSmSnujapura, formed by YWava-

381
Ramdtv, 406.

RSmesvaram, 362, 392, 397, 405.
RanganStha of Srtrangam, 167, 170.

RSshtraktitas, the rise and expan-
sion of, the 223-25; marriage
alliance of, with Nandivarman
Pallavamalla, 226.

fcavivarman Kulas&hara, 363, 373.
Re<Hipalem, 10, 20, 45, 204.
RShini w of Hiranyavarman, 215.

Rudran Kaanan of Kajiyaltlr, 23,
27, 48, 133, 379.

AlagappirSnar
Sakti-

Sadag^panambi

Govinda, 438.
£aktivi4angan, tame

vitankan, 232.

$31ukkit, a feudatory dynasty

under the Cho^as, 318.
Sftuva, a brother of SSluya Nara-

simha, 457.

SSJuvaMyudayat*, a work of
Ra^anatha Din(}im«, 406.

G^a, same as Gun<}a, 464.

Mangn, 393, 394, 422, 425,
454,461,462;

va Narasimha, a son of Guria,
> 457, 4(61^ rise of, to power,
ff ; ajh<f kh* Orissa^ invasion,
" ; during tye Uiae of Virt-

SSJuva Narasinga, see 9l|iirA

Narasimha, 453.
SSlavas, the origin and early

history of, 453 ff.
Samadkigata PanehamahMabda,

an Eastern Chalukya title, 245.

Samavvai, wife of a Katfava (Pal-
lava) chief named Saktivijankan,
232.

Sambukula Chakravarti Tiru-
MallinMar SambuvarSya Peru-
mal, 427.

SambuvarSyant (in the PSISr basin)
317.

SambuvarSyans, rule of, 427.
Sambuvaraya, defeat and reesta*

blisbment of, 454.
Samudragupta, inscription of, 212.

dan gam age, the bhakti school of
Vishnu in full view in, 196 ff.

dangam literature, 7, 8.
Sankara, 103.

3ankha, dau. of Rashtraktita
Amo'ghavars.ha I, m. Nandi-
varman III, 214.

San tap pa NSgappanua, 431.
^aiikula Chajukki Sangramarama,
a Yadavaraya, 370.

£asikula Chajukya, ancestor of the
Yadavarayas, 318.

, a devotee of Nam-
, 327.

SafagSpa ?a**> placed in charge of
the temple, 308.

gatakopa, 170.

dafakopayati, title of the head
Sanytsin, in the Tirupati temple,
268.

SSyanna, 431.

^SdirSyans, same as the Malaya-
.mans, 317.

gelvan, 160.

^emkan, the Gho> king, 57.

^Bndamangalam, capital of the
330^ 335.

480

JftQfe*

gen)i (Ginji), 317.
Senjiyar, 317.
gSshachalam, 1, 3, 38.
fcyon (Mnruga) 191.
Shiyali, 172, 178.
Sibi, 24.

SilappadtikMram, 24, 185, 186, 195,
195*, 196, 380 ; continuation by,
of the account of the Xlvars,
96-100.

Simhavarman, grant of, 218.
Simhavarman I, 213.

Simhavarman II, 212, 213, 214, 215,
216.

Simhavishnu 216, i 226 ; statue of,
at MahSbalipuram, 208; or
4 Avanisimha PSttaraja ' 214.

ginga, see ginga Pillai, 343.

gingadeva, otaw VillavarSyan, 338.

gingana Dantjanayaka, same as
Singayya DaitfanSyaka, Minister
of BalPia III, 355, 364, 368, 394,
401, 416.

gingayya Dan<Jan5yaka, 364, 365,
366: institution of festivals by,
351, 352; a HoysSla officer, son of
Madhava DanganSyaka, an
account of, 353 flf.

gingayyadtva, 365.

Si n gay y a Nayaka, same as gin-
gayya Da^an&yaka, 364.

gingana Nayaka, same as gingayya
DaManSyaka, 364; an officer of
Saliva HI, 394, 395, 413, 420; and
Rangacatha YSdavaraya, 368 if.

ginga PilJai, ton of TirukkQatti-
dfva same as VfrarSkshasa
Yldavarlya, 343.

gingavflkun/am, (AhBbalaxn), 173.

giriyapilJai, a ton of TirukkSlatti-

d«va YVdavarlya, 321.
Siriya Tirumadat, 171, 183.
&ir»4*nattH Ptrumafan, 243.

girumallaiyadHva, ton of Mala-
gangayyadlva MahajSja, 44^

, 948.
gj/m PI|, 27.

Sitagaragaf 4*Q» the name of * food
service instituted in the nam« of
gingayya Da^anayaka, 353.

gittakkatlai, 435, 436, 444, 445, 450.

givaskandavarman, 213.

giyyapuram, the modern glvaram

near Conjeevaram, 221.
Skandasishya (Vijaya Skandavar-

man IV) 213.

Skanda-Subrahmanya, 152.
Skandavarman or ChH^u Pallava,

213.

1 Skandavarman, Maharaja, tk«
father of Vishnug5pa, 219.

Skandavarman II, 213.

Skandavarman V alias Cha&4a-
danja, 213.

j Stta Brahma MZraya*, a title, 247.

S5me*svara, Chajukya emperor,
father of VikramSditya, 254.

S5mCsvara, and the ChSlas, 396,
397.

South India, course of the history
of to A.D. 800, 209 ff ; political
condition of, and the Muhamma-
dan invasions, 359 ff.

grigiri, Prince, son of Bissanna
DSvaraya, 432.

&r\-knryam% 231.
grlNSyanar Y5davarSya,*371.
grlnivSsa, 39, 42, 51, 115.

grinivSsa, God, miraclem of, to
Anantarya, 298-300; foot-prints
of, under the tamarind tree, 300-
301 ; temple of, 302.

grfnivasapuram, a name of gittak-
kuUai, 436, 445.

grlnivlsapatt^ri, 447.

I SrTperumbttdSr, birth place of
RSmSnuja, 261, 264.

gr! Rama Vinnagar, 178.

gr! RSjSndradfva (RBj«ndra KulSt-
tunga), 247.

BISTORT Of tIRUPATt

grfrangam, 98, 100, 118, 126, 156,
159, 168, 166, 170, 171, 180, 186,
197, 257, 262, 265, 266, 270, 271, Tagaflr, 28.

ftt 8' 282* Sff* I& m H?' I
280, 291, 282, 200, 308, 309, 331,

362, 384, 385, 389, 392, 397, 398,
405, 420, 421, 425, 454, 462; dealt
with by PeruiM Tirumoli, 166-
67 ; and Muhammad Tughlak,

417 ff-

TalaiyllangSnam, battle of, 8, 9,
30 31 45
*• d1' 4°*

SriranganStha YSdavartya, succes-

gmangapatam, 466. ,

gmangarfja, reciter of the /V*-
bandha at Srfrangam, 308-309.

&r\rangarnjd' Vigtapti Klrya, the
reciter of the Tiruv&ymoli, 309.

Srwailam, 3.

grlsailam plates of Virftpiksha,

m 453. '

Sri Saila Vigtapti Klrya, (the

official to make petitions to the

God on the hill) 309.

Sri VarShanSyanSr, shrine of, at
Tirupati, 428. ,

6 - r^ I z , z , r -z» ,/ onn
Sri Vlnkaflchala fttA8sam8fat 290,

340, 389, 436; 290; critical review

of the account of, 309-11.
, „ _ .

Sri Vira KumSra Kampala ttyai-

y5r, 426.

Srivilliputtflr, 159, 161.
Subrahmagya, 92.
Subralnna,ya (Ham Kumaran), 67.
Subrahma^ya (KnmSra) 191, 193.

Subrahma^ya Sattri, SSdhu, 356,
358.

jStS^kotfuttSl, a name of Xn^Sl, 161.
Sundara Ch51a. 232.

c ^ «, ^ *«A ***

Sundara PSitfya, 350, 356.

« , ~\ , «M
Sundara P5,4ya 1, 328.

Srtmi P*shkara$i9 297, 302, 306,
428.

Swaminatha Ayyar, M. M. Dr., 2JL

Tamil, boundary of the provenance
of, 2, 4, 5; gods, early, 191-94;
land, division of, 19L

Taftjai (Tanjore), 69, 372.

Tanjore, YSdavarSyat in, 372; burnt
b^ M5rftvarman Sundara PStfya,

n K a poet| refcrg to

VSngaiTin as belonging to Ton-

22L

Telugu CWla, a chief of the line of,
321.

Telugu ChSlas or Pottappi Chdlat,
313, 319 ; Tirukkalattidevan, one
among the, 342; and Ton^amairfa-
lam, 222 ff; and Tirupati, 455.

Telugu Pallavas, the, 313, 336, 337.
_ , _ _, . _ _.

Telugu Pallavas, the, and Tirupati,
455

Temple, organisation of, as reveal-
ed in the Pallava inscriptions,
229-34; management of, and or-
ganisation of worship in, 263-64.

Tennan, 179.

Ten-KThJal, a name of Madura, 1, 61*
son of.

Teruka95mbi, 418, 420.

Timma, a son of Gun4a, 456; same
as Tirumalaid5va,457.

TinnanVr, 428.

Tippa, a son of Gunda, married a
1, 457.

> same a» TripurSntaka, 457.

.^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ; ^^

from llam Tiraiyan of the San-
gam literature, 17

Tiraiyani, account of the, 204.

±82

INDEX

Tintninravfir, same as Tinnanttr,
428.

Tiru AnandllvVr, 440.
Tiru-Arangam, 79.
Tirucchanda Viruttam, 136

Tirucchanflr, 69, 202, 230, 237, 241,
249, 250, 251, 324, 333, 349 ; dona-
tions to the temple at, by the
ChSJa officers, 386 ; inscriptions
of Parantaka I and II at, 235, 236 ;
tabh* of, 236, 441.

TiruccMShinflr, 221, 230, 231, 233,
237.

Tiruchukanflr, 237, 242/243.
Tiru-evvolBr, 175.
TirugnSnasambandar, 179.

Tiru IJankSvil (VSngaiam) 229 ; the
Vaishnava temple at Tiruccha-
nflr, 333.

TirukkSlattideVa(nV (VillavarSya ?)
338; father of gin^a PiUai, 343;
a Telugu ChTJla ruler, 321.

TirukkalattideVa YSdavarSya, 321,
342.

Tiru Kalikatyidasa, father of
AlagappiranSr, 434; the first
(Ofudativftr) among the Sri
Vaishnavas in Tirupati, 436, 439

TirukkBUiyBr, 69, 74, 91, 158, 159,
160, 418.

TirukkoValttr, 90.

TirukkoVilQr, 54, 61, 62, 64, 182,
183.

Tirukkurum TTbufakam, 171.
Tirumalai, 79, 352.
TlrumalaideVa, a son of G5pa, 457.

Tirumalai Nambi, uncle of RSma'-
nuja, 261, 262, 264, 265, 267, 268,
270. 278, 280 294, 295, 300, 301,
302, 306 ; 307, 308, 309 ; 381, 386,
festival 388 ; in memory of, 302,
304.

TirumSl Irum SSlai, 69, 70, 91, 92,
100, 158, 159, 161, 164, 174, 186,
197, 198, 418.

Tinimalilai Xjv^r, 22, 31fT, 44, 53,
100, 134, 136, 137 ; his life and
times, 101-133.

Tirumangai Xj.var. 53, 135, 136, 137,
156, 171-184, 229, 327, 365, 428;
arrangement of, at Srlrangam,
257 ; author of the Periya Tiru-
moli, 303; of the Prabandha,
304 ; food service for, 353.

TirumaruhanSr Ktnikkai, 351.

Tirumolf of Namm^lvSr, 308,
of Periyajvar, 309; character
of the, 158-161.

TirumukkTl4al, 221.
Tirumu^Jiyam, 243, 244.
Tirunangftr, 179.
TirunSraiyttr, 187.
TirunfrSyanapuram, 270.
Ttrunejum TUnjakam, 171.
Tiruni.\raiyHru4aiyan, 447.

Tiruniftravttr U4aiy3n, temple
accountant, 428, 429.

TirunTrmalai, 69, 91.

Tiru-Pal5dh!svaram, a corrupt form
of Tirn-ParasarSsvaram, 237.

TiruppSn Xlvar, (Y5giv5ha) 156,
170.

TirupparSlar^svaram, 238, 249, 250;

corrupted into Tiru-Pal3dhTsva«

ram, 237.
TiruppZvai of XndXl, 429, 450;

chant organised* by RSmSnuja,

339-40.

Tiruppulla^id^sa, 349; undertook
the rebuilding of the temple,
346.

Tirupati, 31, 34, 51, 52, 64, 65, 66,
67, 68, 86, 87, 90, 91, 92, 95, 96,
98, 100, 115, 116, 117, 132, 146,
147, 151, 157, 160, 168, 170, 171,
173, 176, 184, 185, 186, 187, 196,
197, 230, 259, 260, 262, 417, 418,
419, 420, 426, 427, 428, 429, 430,

1 431, 432, 435, 436, 440, 442, 444,
446, 447; known as VSngaflam, 9;
known as Wnka|anlthapura, 245,

| 946, 249; general geographical

488

HISTOR? Of&IRUPATI

features of, 1*4; fauna of, 3-6;
languages to the north and south
of, 5-7; not referred to as a holy
shrine as it is, 13-U; ParSnic
origin of, 34 ff; foundation of, by
Tofjamln Chakravarti, 205-206,
375 ff; temple at, patronised by
ToBdamSn Chakravarti, 283; in
the Prtbandka 4000, 56, 58 If;
Vaishnava character of the
shrink at 376 ff; celebration of
festivals in, 17-22; festivals in
18-19, instituted by TondamSn,
19 % 21, 22; and the early Xlvars,
52 ff; references to,' In Xn^al's
•work, 163; in the age of the
Xchiryas, 381 ff; references to, by
Nammajvar, 139, 143; reference
to, by PerumSl Tirumoji, 168;
Siva-Vishnu combination, a fea-
ture of Vishnu at, 87-89; absence
of inscriptions at, 207-08; in
obscurity during the period of
the Pallava ascendency, 216 ff;
pap in our knowledge of the
history of, 312-13; and the
Telngu Cho'las, 455; and the
Telugu Pallavas, 455; first
visit of RSmanuJa to, 264-65,
270; second visit of Rajna>
nnja to, installation , of the
image of GSvindarSja at Lower
Tirupati; dispute at, regarding
the fact whether the shrine at
the place was a Vishnu one or a
Siva one, 265-67, 279-82; orga-
nisation of worship at, by RSma*-
nuja, 267-68; 286-311; and Ram*-
nuja's second visit, 283-287;
shrine of, and XchSrya RSmI*
mija, 382 ff; organisation of
worship at, by RamSnuja, 290 ff;
temple of, under the management
of the Vaishnava Community,
390 if; and the YSdavarlyas,
318 fi, 342 fF; and JajSvannan
Sundara PSn<Jya, 333 ff; and the
Ga$4ago'pSl«s, 337 , ff; , under
Hoyiala authority, 362 ff; shrines
at, suffered little by the Muham-
madan incursions, 392, 404 ff;
passing of, under 4he authority
of Vljayanagar, , 42S ,ff; under
Vijayanagar, 393 ff, 422 ff; nfst

century of Vijayamagaf rul* In,
448 ff; and the Sa^uvas, 453 ff;
associated with the S^uvi^s,
461 (T; visited by Vlra Naraiimha,
the Gajapati, 295-96.
TiruttXyZr K*mkkai} 35L

Tiruvallam, capital of the Sambuva-

rVyas, 427.
Tiruvallike^i (Triplicane) 76, 175.

TiruvalJttr (Tiru-evvulttr) 175.

Tiruvanantapuram (Trivandrum)
186.

Tiruvanttdi, 31, 136, 140; of
Poygai 3ftvar, 149.

Tiruvannamalai, 364, 367, 421;
made the headquarters of Vlra
BaU*1a III, 412, 413.

TirHv&Hriyai*> a work of Nam-
r, 138, 140.

, 142, 143, 144, 146 if,
147 n, 160, 443.

Tiruv&ymoli of Nammllvtr, 135,
137, 138, 139, 140, 258, 860.

TiruvHymol* thousand, 145.

TiruvSyppSfli, cowherd village on
the hill, 249.

Tiruvayppa^i Tirumalai XjvSr,
God on the hill referred to by
that name, 249, 386.

TiruveHarai, inscription, of Danti-
v arm an, 220.

Tiruvelukn^rirukkai, 171.
TiruvSnga^ad&va, 240.

TiruvSngagakkd'ttam, an early
division under a TondamSn chief
202, 205, 221, 230, 235, 242, 254,

Tirav*nga4am. 63,90, 176, 180, 202,
231, 233, 342 ; God of, 345 ; not
mentioned in the early Pallava
records, 221*

TiruvgngadamudaiySn, God, of the
hill, 240, 327, 336, 340, 342, 351,
368, 371, 434, 450.

Tiruvtngaga&a'tha YSdava, 370. *

Tiruvtngaganltha Yidavarly v
account of, 332, 350,

INDEX

Tir*vfrultamt A work of Namina>
v*r, 138, 140, 141, 144* ,

*m> 2, 4, 9» lo, 33, 136,

TolMppiy*
191,191

To94a*yar, Ve*nga4asn formed part
of the territories of, 16 ; change
of territory into the handi of,
from Pulli, 19.

Ton4aiyarkon, the Pallavas known

as, 175, 207. .
TonflamSfl, 1% ; . institution of

festivals at Tirupati by, 19 if;
^southern, 175. I

Too4atn?n^rrttr or Toij4am5npe"r- '

SjfBr, 217, 230 ; .the place where
. £d*tya died, 23$.

TooflamSn Ckakravarti, 176, 180,
295 ; the human founder of Tiro-
pati, 375 ff; (legendary character)
royal patronge of, to the Tirupati
temple, 283 ; institution of fetti-
vals at Tirupati by, 22.

fon^amSn Ilam Tiraiyan, 107, 108,
186, 377 ; an account of, 23, 29 ;
and the early XivSrs, 30; and
Too^amVn RSja of Tirupati, 45-
51.

Ton.fama'nperSrjflr, 230.

Ton^amSn RSja of the Pura^as, f
history :* of, 40-46 ; and Ton<Jam5n
Ilam Tiraiyan, 46-51.

TondamSns, early history of the,
204 ff. i

, early history of,
ff; the debatable frontier
between different powers, 222-23 ;
brought under ChSJa authority,

Toirfar Aftppofi, 170.

Ton4*r A)i Pofi XivSr (BhaktSn-
grirfnu), 156.

Travancore. 168, 170.

Trichlnopoly, 220.

TrinCtra Pallava, taa« at Mukkanti

Triplioane, 175, 189, 990, 234,
Trlpurlntaka, 339 ; a son of G5pa,

f *

Trittya Brahmatantrasrfmin, 276*
Trivandmm, 186.

Udayagiri, 424, 464; taken by,
KapilEtvart, 460.

UlahutfaiyapenimSJ, 440, 442.

UraiytSr (K5ii) 98, 167, 170; burnt
by Maravarman Sundara I5n<Jya,
329.

Uratti, battle of, 324325, 328.
Uruvappalli, grant, 219.
Uttaramallur, 220, 221.
fftittyfyam, 231.

Vaja Arasu, 179.
Va<Jamalai, 18a

VatJamamaUidSsar Alahar AppilJai
TiruvanandSlvSr Periya Pemma]
441.

Va£a V^ngafam, 4.

Va4ugas, (Ba^agas) 5, 6, 7.

Va^ukar, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16,
17, 19, 20.

Va^ukar Perumakan, 5, 10, 15.
Va4*kavaH, 6.
Va4uku, 5

VailhSnasa Agama, restoration of
worship at Tirupati according to
the, 265, 279, 283, 290-92.

Vaikunfcha Perum7{ inscriptions,

177, 219,
VAiramtgha, Dantidnrga Vaira-

mtgha? 177.

Vairanilgha Pallava, 176.
VallabhtchSrya, 144.
Vaftal (Patron), 149.

VaUalCd&va, same as BaJJaladfva,
352.

, a tax, 366,
336.
369., .

HISTORY Of TIRUPATI

Varadar5ja*vami, shrint of, 428.
Varaguna II, 227.

VlrSha, arrangement for the
worship of, made by RamSnuja,
302.

Varuna (God of the Sea), 191.
VasudSva, 198.

VStSpi (BSdami) the capital of the
Chalukya, 222-23.

VehkS, the Vishnu shrine at Kanchi,
27, 31, 32, 33, 50, 56, 61, 62, 63,
76, 79, 80, 90, 104, 107, 134.

Ve^Sn, hereditary writer of a
division, 328.

Vellore, 427.

VSJukkaipaMi, 76, 79.

VSngaflam, (a name of Tirupati),
9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 18, .29, 30, 31,
48, 61, 63, 64, 65, 76, 77, 73, 79,
80, 81, 83, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116,
117, 121, 132, 160, 164, 171, 175,
180, 181, 182, 183, 184 ; 187, 190,
196, 199, 20*, 205, 209, 217, 232,
359; (Tirupati) northern boundary
of the Tamil country, 2, 4-7;
belonged to Tiruvenga4akko^am,
200} presiding deity of, Vishnu
according to the Xlvars, 89-94:
an undoubted Vaisnava centre
of worship, 94-95 ; its, Vaishnava
character maintained in literary
tradition, 185-187 ; description
of, in the gilappadhikaram, 96 flf;
changed hands from Pnlli to
Ton^aman, 45 ; reference to, by
Bhtitattu Xlvffr, 69, 70; and
NamroSJvSr, 138ff.

Venkajcahala, 267.

Vlnkaf&chala ItihUsamMHi 262, 264,
267, 277, 278, 281, 286; account
contained in, compared to that

. • contained in the Gvruparam-
pardt, 269-273: account contain-
ed in, of Ramanttjft'* connection
with Tit upati, 288-290; of Anan-
tSrya, 373.

,dqa

1246.

VenkajWvara, ttmple of, 239.
VerkkS4n, 29.
Vibhwnt, 154.

Vichitrachitta, a name of Mahfn-
dravarman, 219.

VidySdhara, BSna, 215.

Vidyanagara, original name of
Vijayauagar^ 424.

Vijaya BhBpati, 458.

Vijayabaddhavarman, ton of
Vijayaskanda.varman, 218.

1 Vijaya-Dantivikrama, same as
Dantivarman, son of Naodi-
varman llj 221.

I Vijaya Gangagopala killed by
Sundara P5$<}y«. 334; account of,
336-ff.

Vijaya Kampa, 215.

Vijayalaya, 228; overthrew the
power of the Pallavas, 235.

Vijayanagar, empire, the, 342;
establishment and expansion of
the empire of, 417ff, 458ff ; Tiru-
pati under, 422flf, 448ff ; ruins of,
at Hampi, 253.

Vijayaskandavarman IV altar
Skandasishya, 213.

Vijayavadi(Beswftda), 254.

Vikrama Ch81a, 316, 317, 318, 320;
viceroy of the Cho'las, 255; vice-
roy over the Tirupati region,
314-15; inscriptions of,, at Tiru-
pati, 244, 249-50; a Vaishnava,
275, 280, 282; hit feudatory,
GhattideVa, a Yadavaraya, 284,
285, 312; death of, 256.

VikramSditya, 187; sou of Chunky a
emperor, SSmSsvara, 254; death
of, 255.

VikramacLitya VI, 372;. wars of,
with KulSttunga 7, 316; spread of
the power of, over the Western
Chajukya territory, 317.

Vikramapura (Kannanflr), the old
Hoysgla capital, 360, 397, 999,

266, 296, 296. Vikramasimhapura (Nellore), 345.

INDEX

VillavtiSya; $mgadeVa) 338.
Vijupparaiyans, 370.

VimalSditya, Eaitern ChSlukya
ruler, 245.

Vinnagar, 61, 62, 63, 90.

Vinnagaram, 79.

Vira BaJlala, 360, 362, 421.

VIra Ballt|a, III, 354, 355, 356;
Tirupati under, 393JT; and -the
Muhaxnraadans, 410ff; inscrip-
tions of, at Tirupati, 314; death
of, 415.

Vira Gangagopala, refers to Vijaya
Gan4ag5pala, 334, 335, 337fT.

VIra Narasimha, the Gajapati king,
at Tirupati on a pilgrimage,
295-96.

VIra Narasimha PerumaJ, 445.

VIra Narasimha Yadavataya, (VIra
Narasinga Yadavaraya) with
Chajukya titles, 239, 313, 347,
349; feudatory of Kulottunga III
and Rajaraja 111, 269.

VIra Narasinga, and TiruvSngafla-
natha Yadavaraya, 357.

VIra Narasingadeva, 356, 358.

VIra Narasingapperuma|, 365; food
service for, 353.

Vira Narasinga Yadavaraya, 319,
321ff, 333, 337, 359; an account of
the relations of, with Tirupati,
343ff; loyalty of, to the Chola
Kings, 330-31.

VIra Na ray an a ChaturvEdimanga-
lam, 346. '

VIra Pantfya, 361; son of Mara-
varman KulasSkhara Fanflya, 360}
and the Muhammadan invasions,
402, 405.

VirarajSndra, 253-54, 318.

VIrarakshasaraya, see VirarSkshasa
Yadavaraya, 343.

Virarakshasa YSdavarSya, same as
ginga PiUai or ginga, 321, 343.

VIra RSmanltha, a son and succts-
sor of SSmSfvara, 999*

Vlravarman or 'Vlraktlrcha', 213.
Virlnchipuram, capital of the
SambuvarSyas, 427.

VJrUpUksha III, 448, 453, 451; and
Narasimha's rise to power, 465fT.

Vishnu, place of, among the early
Tamil Gods, 191-194.

Vishnuchitta, a name of Periya
XlvSr, 156.

VisbfudVva (Bi{tid?va) came to be
known as Vishnuvardhana 271,
272.

Vishnog^pa, 212; son of MahSrfja

Skandavarman, 219.
Vishnugopa 1, 213.
VishnugSpa II, (Yuvamaharaja) or

1 Knmara Vishnu ', 213.

Vishnugopa III, 213.
Vishnugopavarman, (Yuva-MahS-
raja), the grant of, 219.

Vishnu-Na'Syana, gift to the
temple of, by Charudevi, 206.

Vishnu Tlrtha, 39.

Vishnuvardhana, same as Vishnu-
dSva or Bl^ideva, 271, 273.

Vis vambara, a yT>gi, 301.

Visvanatha, son of Ramanatha
Hoysala, 360.

VittaladSvarSya, (BittidSva) and
Ramanuja, 271-273, 276.

ViJJhalaraya, a disciple of Rama-
nuja, 270-71.

Vittuvakko^u (in Travancore), 168.

VyZkat, 154.

Warangal, kingdom of, 403 : Kaka-
tlya rulers of, 361. ^

Yadavarjya,
from Srlran
led the
at Lowex
281-82; hi

487

HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

-temple; 368; , Saiva-VaiiJinava
dispute regarding the deity at
Ttrupati AIM! his decision about
it with the help of Ramjmuja,
888, 890; award of, that the
temple was that of Vishnu, 291 ;
built* the ' temple of Govinda-
r5ja at Lower Tirupati, 293-94;
to support the authority of. the
Bachelor-Superintendent, 30fr ; to
take the advice of Anantarya,
308 j ruler, tame as GhaJ$idlia,
312, 332, 333.

YSdavarlya Nacchlyar, 345, 348.

YSdavarlyas, 3l3ff, 336; claim, des-
cent from the Sasikula Chunky as,
Sift; related to the ChV(ukya
family, 455-56; account of the,
and Tirupati, 341fT; assumption

of indeptndeaoe 'by, ^315-316;
and the Hoyftlas, 400/f; and the
SSluvas, 462.

YSdavas 6f DeVagiri, 35^.

Yadtktaktri or V*h*kZ, the Vishnu
shrine at stf nchi/ 27, 33, 107.

YagfiasrI, 2ia

Y?mun5chirya,; 381, 383, 384; visit
-of, to Tirupati, 269; Tone ' of.th*
assistants of Sajag5pa Yaii.to be
representative of, 308; image of,
set up by Ananttrya, 304-5.

Yapparungalam, 56.

YSgimallSvaram (same a« Tiru-
parHarCsvaram), 237, 256, 324,
326.

gghted at the Ananda Press, Madras.

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTE TO
VOLUME I.

In the course of this volume we have had to
recur several times to the composite character
of the image of or! Venkatesa at Tirupati, and
certain features characteristic of Siva found on
it. These have been referred to not merely the
early Alvars, but all the Alvars more or less
regarded these features as forming part of the
image of Vishnu designed for Tirupati. This
idea of Rudra and Narayana, though of two
separate forms, being one in substance at the
same time, and that the form of one (Rudra) being
found in the other is stated in stanza 98* of the
first Centum of Poigai Alvar in the lyarpa of the
Prabandha, 4,000. The same idea is contained in.
Chapter 350 of the Santi Parva, Mokshadharma,
of the Mahabharata. Reference may parti-
cularly be made to slokas 26 and 27f which are
set down below for ready reference. The idea of
the oneness of Rudra with Narayana is also

* See the quotation at foot of p. 65.
T >wirPi ft

enforced in a subsequent Chapter, Chapter
of the saute boofc, pardcmWy the latter pa;
the Chapter. This shows vj|k*t the idea h
currency at one time and that its elaboration in
the work of Nammilvar had authority to support it.
The &anti Parva of the Mahabharata has been
regarded by some as an interpolation ; but that is
a large question for taking up for discnaskm

By about the 5th or the 6th centtiry A«f>.f

»/ </ i*

Mahabharata came to be known generaHjr'as
work of one hundred thousand filokftt^6*tisik
sri, and this description cannot iekckide -if
^anti Parva as a whole. Anyhow, the
in the Mahabharata would certainly be i
ing in this connection and is referred to here for
what it is worth, as evidence of the prevalence
of this general notion among ihe Vishgu Bhafctas
certainly.

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